


It's Strange (BEING REWRITTEN AND NOT FINISHED)

by Aesdi



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Aged-Up Losers Club (IT), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, Homophobic Language, Humor, I'm Bad At Tagging, IT Chapter Two Spoilers, Kind of canon complaint, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Period-Typical Homophobia, Richie Tozier is a Little Shit, Self-Indulgent, all tagged relationships are established, but im taking canon into my own hands, but not really, but the party is still 13-14, i cant live without a happy ending, like per chapter, like really self indulgent, none too big but please be warned!!, pre stranger things 3, sorry - Freeform, they are the age of nancy and jonathan, were covering all the basics in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2020-10-04 06:32:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20466572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aesdi/pseuds/Aesdi
Summary: Richie Tozier thought his summer was going to be like the last three summers. Chilling with the Losers and be happy the demon clown is dead. However, he's forced to visit his family in Hawkins, Indiana, for the whole summer.And that's not all. An old enemy is coming out to ruin Richie's life yet again. Can't he catch a break, already?(In process of being rewritten and not finished)





	1. The Beginning of Something Strange

**Author's Note:**

> hello anyone who clicked on this, welcome!!
> 
> honestly i dont know why i wrote this but its been floating (pun intended) around my head for a while so i had to get it out
> 
> i was hugely influenced by "Life on Mars" by littlepessimist, which is honestly my favorite story on this whole site so please check it out!!
> 
> Now for some Warnings for this chapter.
> 
> the biggest warning is just a bit of animal death at the very beginning, so if that bothers you, you can just skip it
> 
> with that out of the way, i hope you enjoy the story!!

1

Hawkins, Indiana, was a relatively quiet town. One you would find anywhere, Hawkins was a place full of cookie-cutter houses and local businesses. Most of the time, the worst crime was the kids who steal Phil Larson’s garden gnomes. Ask anyone who lived in Hawkins, and they’d say it was a normal small town.

Now, that didn’t mean weird things didn’t happen. If you asked the same people if anything weird  _ did _ happen, they would all say the disappearance of Will Byers. Little Will Byers got lost in the woods one November, and his body was found in quarry three days later. This alone would raise no eyebrows if Will Byers was not found a few days after the funeral, strangely not dead. The death of Barbara Holland also came up a bit, but that was more of a tragedy than a strange occurrence.

Besides all of this, Hawkins, Indiana, was a quiet town.

Which is why it makes the gruesome deaths of multiple rabbits that more confusing.

A local farmer found the remains of a rabbit spilling all over the forest grounds near his farm. Now, he would have thought it was a bear or something of that sort if there hadn’t been another mutilated rabbit nearby, exactly parallel. Then another, and another, and soon he found nearly ten dead rabbits in a straight line. The police were called shortly after.

“Chief,” The farmer had said, walking towards the gruesome scene with the police chief, Jim Hopper, “I hadn’t seen anything like that. I’m not sure I ever  _ want  _ to see anything like that again.” Hopper only hummed in response, lighting a cigarette in his mouth. Walking a few more minutes, the smell of rotten bodies finally hit their noses.

“Jesus christ…” Hopper muttered, taking sight of the dead rabbits. Each one had their guts next to them in a neat pile. That wasn’t the thing that scared Hopper though.

It was the petrified look on their lifeless faces, fear gracing every dead eye.

“Now, I think this may some Satanic bullshit,” The farmer said, “And I don’t want that in my woods.”

“Alright, we’ll find the cult,” Hopper eventually said, shock retreating slightly. Hopper hoped this was a cult. That was the best outcome in this situation. Looking up from the rabbits, he saw something blood red in the line of trees. Walking closer, Hopper saw it was a balloon.

A single red balloon right in the middle of the woods. Then he blinked, and it was gone.

2

“ _ What _ ?” Richie Tozier yelled, just arriving home after a long day with the Losers. The Losers Club, as they called themselves, were made up of seven members. The members were Richie Tozier, Bill Denbrough, Stan Uris, Beverly Marsh, Ben Hascom, Mike Hanlon, and Eddie Kaspbrak. They―minus Beverly, as she lived in Portland as of four years―had spent the first day of summer in a quarry, a tradition they started when they were 11 and only had four of the Lucky Seven.

It had been a great day, fantastic even!

“You will be leaving tomorrow morning, by train,” Maggie Tozier, Richie’s mother, speaks into the rim of her wine glass, determined to ruin his fantastic day. Wentworth Tozier was reading the newspaper in a nearby chair, in his own world.

“But why?” Richie did not want to go. Now, this does NOT mean Richie likes Derry, Maine, because Richie could literally give a rat’s ass about the cursed town. The thing that twisted his underwear was the fact that he would be leaving his friends―family was what they really were―for a whole ass summer to go to Bum-Fuck-Nowhere, Indiana. That was three whole months away from HIS Losers.

“Your Aunt Karen called, wanting to check up on you and all.” Maggie paused to take a sip from her wine. “Then I suggested that you go up for the summer, and she agreed. Said her kids would be excited to see you.”

To translate, his mom wanted to get rid of him for the summer.

Don’t get Richie wrong, his parents aren’t necessarily  _ bad _ parents. They fed him, gave him a roof, left money for him weekly, all that jazz. The problem was they didn’t love him. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t, Richie wouldn’t know for sure. However, neither of them has ever tried to get to know him. Richie has come to terms with this when he was 10.

He had found his true family four years ago, anyway.

“What if I don’t want to go anywhere over summer?”

“I already promised Karen.” Maggie finally looked up from her glass, disappointment settled deep in her face. “Now, go pack your bags.”

“What the fuck, Ma!”

“ _ Richard. _ ” His same sounded like poison out of her mouth.

“This is such bullshit…” Richie said after a few moments, running up the stairs to his room. Sure, he’ll fucking pack, but first he has an important phone call.

Flopping on his bed, Richie pulled the phone off the receiver, calling the number he knew from heart.

“This is the Kaspbrak residence,” A familiar voice picked up after a few rings. Richie felt a smile grow on his lips.

“Congratulations, Mr Edward Spaghedward Kaspbrak, you have won a life-time membership for Tasty Tozier’s Sex Line! Words have never been this tasty! Now, how do you like it, baby?” Richie had put on a radio show host voice.

“I like it quiet, dickwad,” Eddie replied back, laugh not lost in his voice, “What the fuck are you doing calling now? We just saw each other an hour before!”

“Can I, a smitten man, resist calling his wondrous and bootylicious lover?” 

“Beep fucking beep, asshole!”

“Boo, you ass.” Richie sighed, running a hand through his hair, “But yeah, I have shit to tell you.”

“Please don’t tell me this call is from jail,” Eddie joked, though there was a hint of concern in his warm voice.

“Nah, I’m still on the run for my dangerously good looks.” Eddie scoffed. “But I don’t think I can join you losers for the rest of the week. Or the week after that. Or the rest of the summer.”

“What!” Eddie’s voice exclaimed, “Why not? Holy shit, you are in jail, aren’t you? Or are you sick? Tell me you’re not sick, because we fucking made out like an hour ago and if I get sick, I’ll be stuck inside for the rest of the year! Richie are you sick―”

“Eds, I’m not fucking sick, I’m going out of town for the whole summer.”

“What! Why?!”

“Mom didn’t want to deal with her son for three months?”

“Where are you even going?” Eddie’s voice was softer, and Richie couldn’t help but smile a big goofy smile.

“Hawkins, Indiana.”

“Oh I think I heard about that place on the news once.”

“Really? Why?”

“Apparently there was a gas leak or something. Killed a girl.” Eddie paused. “What if you get caught in the gas leak? You could die, or- or you could get cancer!”

“Eds, I won’t die. Don’t worry about me.”

“I can’t help it!” Eddie sighed. “I’ll miss you, Chee.”

“I’ll miss you too, Eds. You won’t forget about this mug and find some other man, won’t you?”

“There’s no other man for me, Rich.” Richie could basically feel the warmth from Eddie’s voice over the phone. God, he loved that kid. A yell came from Eddie’s side.

“Shit, my moms home.” Eddie’s voice was a whisper now. “I’ll see you soon, Richie. Bye!” And then he hung up.

Richie put the phone back on the receiver, before sighing.

“Fuck…”

Richie picked the phone back up. He had to call the rest.

3

“Nancy! Mike! Come here please!” Karen Wheeler’s voice yelled from the living room. Mike sighed, putting down his SuperCom. No use in arguing with his mom. Climbing up the stairs from the basement, Mike headed into the living room where Nancy was already sitting on the couch. Sitting on the opposite side of her, Mike turned his attention back to his mom, who was standing in front of them, Holly on her hip.

“What is it mom?” Nancy asked, fiddling with her hands nervously.

“Well, recently I talked to your Aunt Maggie,” Karen said, shifting Holly to hold her better, “And she came up with the idea that your cousin, Richard—you do remember Richard, don’t you? He’s around your age, Nancy, just a bit younger.”

“Barely,” Nancy said, “I just remember his big glasses and loud voice.”

“Well, he’s coming up to stay with us this summer!” Karen smiled, excitement dancing on her face. Mike frowned. Now, he had never met Richard, but the things Nancy said made Mike a little wary. Mike did not like loud, the only exception being his friends. They got loud, but it was welcomed.

Richard was not welcomed.

“Why?” Nancy asked, her voice reflecting how Mike felt. Confused and a bit peeved. Karen seemed to have sensed it, as her smile dropped a bit.

“Maggie suggested it, saying Richard had not left the town since we last saw him.” Karen sighed, seeing her kids less than happy at the idea. “Look, I get it. Richard is coming in, and living with us for a summer, is weird. Especially since you haven’t seen him since you were 5. But we have to be welcoming! Understand?”

They both stayed quiet.

“ _ Understand? _ ” Karen tried again, adding more force to her voice. They both nodded quickly. “Great! Now, I need you two to clean the basement!”

“ _ What! _ ” Mike stood up, startling Holly with his voice. “Why!”

“Richard needs a place to stay over the summer, and the basement is a perfect place!” 

“But where would me and my friends hang out without the basement!”

“Your room.”

“But it’s not big enough to fit all of us!”

“Then hang out at someone else’s house, Michael! I am not arguing over this! Richard needs a place to sleep over summer.”

“Then let him sleep on the couch!”

“ _ Michael Wheeler! _ ” Karen glares at Mike, who shrinks a bit. “You will clean the basement and you will do so with a good attitude.  _ Now. _ ”

Mike glared at his mom, before stomping down the stairs to the basement. Grabbing his SuperCom, he sits on the couch.

“Emergency meeting tomorrow at my place.”

4

Richie arrived at the train station when the sun was just rising over the horizon. Richie always kind of liked the train station, with its calm atmosphere and beautiful scenery. He used to come here if he just needed time alone, sometimes with a pack in his pocket. This train station was Richie’s hidey-hole.

Right now, however, Richie hates this stupid station.

The logical part of his brain (which suspiciously sounded like Stan) knew that this was only one summer. Three months and he would have the Losers for the rest of his Derry days. However, the rest of his brain (which sounds like Richie himself) told him that this “vacation” wasn’t a vacation at all. That he would be stuck in Hawkins for the rest of his life. That he would never see the Losers ever again.

A yell broke him out of his thoughts, and Richie snapped his head up. Right there, were five of the seven Losers. They stood by a bench, waving wildly.

“Well,  _ golly! _ ” Richie exclaimed, dropping his luggage as his lips slipping up into a big smile, “All this for little ol’ me?  _ Shucks _ , you shouldn’t have!”

“Beep beep, ah-asshole!” Bill laughed. Since the summer four years back, Bill has gone to speech therapy to help with his stutter. A few more years, and Stuttering Bill will be stuttering no more. Though, it came back full force when Bill was angry or upset. Or scared.

“Can’t I express my gratitude, Big Bill?”

“No, not at all,” Mike teased. Over the last few years, Mike became a fucking bull, packing on muscle due to wroking on the farm. Richie was convinced that Mike could throw him to hell and back if Mike oh-so desired. Ben snorted from his spot next to Mike. Ben has also toned out over the years, losing all the pudge that made a certain someone bully him all those years ago. He was still as shy, though.

“Oh, Mike.” Richie grasps at his chest, right above his heart. “You wound me so!” To finish the act, Richie falls to his knees. The sounds of the Losers laughter moves around him, causing Richie to break character and smile.

“Get up, asshole,” Eddie says, a few giggles still in his voice. Eddie over the years have shot up from 5’ 1” straight to 5’ 7”. However, he is still the second shortest Loser. Richie loves it, and has no problem telling Eddie that fact. Eddie hates it.

“People are staring,” Stan speaks up from his position near Bill, a ghost of a smile on his face. Out of all of them, Stan was hit the hardest with the events four years ago. He’s gotten quieter, and has been having frequent nightmares, many which Richie had helped calm him down. They’ve gotten better over the years, but Stan still will go quiet at random moments.

“Let them! Seeing my face should be a blessing!” Richie yells, jumping up. There really weren't many people there, just the ticket man and an old couple who were sending them a dirty look. Richie blows a kiss in their direction, making their scowl deeper. Eddie jabs his elbow into his ribs, making Richie yelp.

“Stop scaring old people, Rich.”

“Eddie My Love! Why, oh, why must you hurt me so?”

“Beep beep, Dick.” The Losers laugh once more, before falling into silence. It was not an uncomfortable silence, but it was certainly not a welcomed one. Richie needed the silence to be broken, or else he was going to burst. The problem was that the words would not form. For once in his life, Richie was rendered silent. The somber looks on his friends' faces weren’t helping. Ben even looked to near tears.

Richie opened his mouth, then closed it. He sighed, before speaking. “Listen, guys, I know I’m leaving, but it’s not like it’ll be forever!” Richie wished he could believe the words leaving his mouth, but he couldn’t find it in himself to. “Just three months, then you’ll  _ wish  _ I was gone forever!”

“As if I don’t wish that already,” Stan said, before breaking into a small smile. Richie felt his own lips turn up. The sound of a whistle breaks the moment.

“Sh-Shit,” Bill groans, “Richie, I hope you know wuh-we’re going to muh-miss you.”

  
  
“C’mon, Big Bill, of course I know!” Richie wouldn’t say, but he was greatly touched by that little gester. “Speaking of which! You guys have the number, right?”

“Committed it to memory,” Ben says, voice wobbly from unshed tears.

“I knew you’d have the perfect brain, Haystack!” Richie smiles, though it doesn’t feel as genuine as he wished it did. The train whistles again, and Richie sees the dreaded object pulling up to the station. “Fuck…”

“Richie,” The man in question turns his head towards Mike, “Don’t scare the people of Hawkins too much, okay?”

“Hey, I’m a fucking delight to be around,” Richie jokes, and hopes it sounds natural with the huge lump in his throat. He picks up his forgotten luggage, before sighing. “Well, I guess the Losers are losing their sole cool member.”

  
  


“Be-Bev’s already guh-guh-gone, though.” Bill jokes, but his voice is somber.

“Yowza! Big Bill gets off a good one!” Richie laughs, making his way towards the train. He makes it to the door when he feels arms wrap themselves around his waist.

“You asshole,” Eddie speaks into his back, “You thought you could just leave without a proper goodbye?”

“Well shit, Eds, I thought this whole get together was the goodbye,” Richie says, turning around to face the man. He presses his face onto the crown of Eddie’s head. They stayed like that for a moment, before the whistle blew again.

Richie sighed. “I have to go, Eds.” Eddie looked up, before closing the distance between them and connecting their lips. The kiss was short, but packed a promise. Richie opened his eyes to see a teary eyed Eddie smiling at him. (And maybe an appalled old couple who were getting ready to board in the back.)

“See you soon, Chee,” Eddie moved away, before joining the other Losers, who were smiling at them. Richie nodded, made silent again. He then cleared his throat, and flipped off the Losers. (Adding to old couple’s horror. Really this was just a game at this point.)

“See you Losers on the flip side! And don’t forget to tell Mrs. K I’ll miss our nightly outings!”

“Beep beep, Richie!” He laughed, before boarding the train to Nowhere, Indiana. Leaning against a window, Richie’s smile finally dropped. God, how he wished this whole trip was just a bad dream. Vaguely listening to the old couple speak on how teenagers these days were so “vulgar” and “sinners”, Richie allowed tears to finally escape.

“Just three months,” Richie whispered, “It’s only three months.”

5

Hawkins wasn’t a good town.

To say it was a bad town was an exaggeration, but it was by no means a good town.

Will Byers should know, he’s lived through the worst of it.  _ Hell _ , he’s been the subject of the worst of it! However, he can’t bring it in himself to hate the town. Even when bullshit decides it’s time to mess up everything Will loves.

Sitting here, watching Mike go through the stuff in his basement with the others, Will knows more bullshit was thrown his way. Especially since last night.

“Ok, but why does this Richard have to sleep in the basement?” Lucas asks, equally as annoyed as Mike.

“I don’t know! I said he should sleep on the couch!” Mike groans, picking up a few board games and shoving them into a box.

“I don’t see the big deal,” Max says, “I mean it’s not like he’s living here.”

“You don’t understand,” Dustin says, running a hand through his hair before placing his cap back on, “This totally ruins tradition!”

“Plus no one makes cookies like Mrs Wheeler.” Lucas adds. Will rolls his eyes. He loves his friends, but they can be ridiculous.

“Oh my god, you guys are ridiculous!” Max says, reading Will’s mind.

“What’s ridiculous is the fact that I have to clean the basement!” Mike throws more junk into the box which was nearly overflowing.

“Come on guys,” Will says, standing, “Let’s help Mike, it’s the least we can do.” The rest grumble, but don’t fight. In thirty minutes, the basement looks livable, with the couch pulled out and a few blankets and pillows throw over it. The Party are sitting around the coffee table, eating some cookies Mrs. Wheeler brought down. Will thinks over the night before, and how weird but familiar that feeling was. Chills run up his spine just thinking about the feeling, and Will knows the others have to know about this.

“Guys,” Will speaks up, “Something weird happened last night.”

“What do you mean?” Mike asks, 

“I had a weird feeling last night.” Will swallows. “It was...it was like the one I felt with the Mind Flyer.”

“Shit.” Dustin swears.

“But it’s different.” Will continues.

“How different?” Lucas asks, leaning in closer.

“It’s...it’s more chaotic. Like, the Mind Flyer worked from the shadows, but this thing, it’s up front with the action.”

“But what is it?” Max asks, arms crossed loosely.

“I don’t know.” Will sighs. They sit in silence for a bit, before Dustin speaks up again.

“What about the dead animals popping up? Could this thing be responsible for that?”

“Makes sense…” Max groans.

“Have you told Miss Byers or Jonathan yet?” Lucas asks. Will shakes his head. “Should we tell them?”

“I mean maybe it would be better if they knew?” Dustin asks.

“I’ll tell them soon.” Will sighs, “I just hope this isn’t something stupid.”

“I don’t think it is,” Mike says. Will smiles at him, before looking down. They all sat in silence, before a yell from upstairs broke it up.

“Kids! It’s time for you guys to leave! Richard will be here soon!” Mrs. Wheeler yells.

“Okay mom!” Mike yells back, before turning back to the Party. “Summer is going to be hell.”

Will wonders how that would differ from the last two years.

6

Stepping on the streets of Hawkins, Richie knew the summer was going to fucking suck.

The town had everything Derry had, just with more life. Normally Richie would dig this, but there were two reasons why he wanted to fuck out of here.

Reason one, the Losers couldn’t be here. Since he was eight, Richie always had at least one of the Losers with him. Bike rides with Bill, joking around with Stan, chilling in the library with Ben, messing around the farm with Mike, deep conversations with Bev, and late nights with Eddie. Richie always had a fellow Loser with him.

Reason two, this town a god awful vibe.

Richie wasn’t a big fan of the supernatural—he had his fair share years ago—and did not mess with vibes. This town reeked of bad shit waiting to happen. All that was needed was a demon clown and Hawkins would be a carbon copy of Derry.

“Gee, Rich,” He says to himself, “How do you always find yourself in the worst towns.” Readjusting his bags, Richie continued his journey through the town, taking notes on each place he would want to visit. The movie theater was always a safe place to visit, and apparently a mall was said to be opening soon, if the talk around town should be true. Richie’s pretty sure he saw an arcade around here, so that may be where he stays the whole summer. Hopefully they have Street Fighter.

“Speaking of street…” Richie murmurs, dropping one of the bags. After rummaging through his pockets, he finally finds the piece of paper he needs.

“635 Maple Street…” Richie reads from the paper, before stuffing it back in his pocket, “Jesus Christ.” Picking up the dropped bag, he groans. The sign near him reads Mulberry Street.

“Where the fuck am I?” Richie mutters, looking around the town. He should have got a fucking map from the train station. “Great, I’m fucking lost.” Looking around again, he groans. Pushing up his glasses with his shoulder, Richie decides to push away his pride and ask for help, going into some general store.

“Maybe I can nick some smokes,” Richie mutters, pushing the door open with his shoulder, “Killing two birds with one stone.” Inside, there are only two people inside, a man and a woman. One—the woman—is standing behind the counter, talking to the man, who seems to be a cop. Richie groans internally. Of fucking course a cop would be in the one general store. The woman perks at the sound of the bell, turning towards him.

“Hello,” The woman—he thinks he can make out the name Joyce on her name tag—says, “Can I help you?”

“Uh, yeah,” Richie says, “You see, ma’am, I was making my way through this neat little town and realized that I no idea where I was fucking going!” Joyce seems taken aback by his foul words, and Richie smiles a bit. “Would you be so kind as to point me in the direction of 635 Maple Street?”

“635 Maple Street…” Joyce looks over to the cop. “That’s where the Wheelers live, right?”

“Right-i-o, my good fellow!” Richie smiles, turning the attention back to him.

“Why do you need to know where they are?” The cop says, taking a step towards him. 

“My summer was hijacked and I’m staying with them the whole summer,” Richie responds, pushing his glasses up with his shoulder.

“And you would be?”

“Richie Tozier, sir.”

“Hop, stop interrogating the poor kid,” Joyce says to the cop—now Hop. Cop Hop (Richie would laugh if Hop wasn’t glaring at him) backs up a bit, eyes still fixed on Richie.

“We don’t know if we can trust this kid.” That makes Richie raise an eyebrow. He’s perfectly innocent! (Give or take a few actions, but killing a demonic clown should erase all of his sins, if Richie had any say.)

“Pardon me, officer,” Richie says, “But I have done nothing illegal my whole life!” That’s a lie, but Cop Hop doesn’t have to know.

“Hop…” Joyce gives him a look. Richie doesn’t know how to describe the look, but it makes Hop stand down.

“Fine,” Cop Hop grumbles, “C'mere, kid, I’ll take you to the Wheelers.”

“Wait really?” Hop nods, and Richie laughs. “Well gee-golly! I thought my legs were going to fall off if I continued on!”

“Shut it, kid.” Hop turns back to Joyce, who’s sending him another look. “Be back in a bit, Joyce.” He then whispers something in her ear that makes her sigh. Richie really doesn’t care what Cop Hop said, he’s just happy that his legs and arms get a break. He then turns back to Richie, a signals him to exit.

“Throw your bags in the back, then get in.” Richie does just that, sighing at the relief for his legs. They sit in relative silence for most of the trip, before Hop decides to break it.

“Are you really here to stay the summer?” Richie turns to look at Hop, whose eyebrows were furrowed even as he stares ahead at the road. Richie can’t help but snort, turning his head back towards the road.

“Why else would I be up here, Cop Hop?”

“Hopper.”

“What?”

“Jim Hopper, not Cop Hop or whatever other bullshit you think my name is.”

“Jim Hopper.” Richie smiles. “You sure have some sass, Jim Hopper.”

“You sure have some nerve, kid.”

“That’s not what your wife said last night, officer!” If he was with the Losers, he would hold his hand up for a high-five.

“Look. We’re here.” The car stops in front of a two-story house. The mailbox reads Wheeler. “Get out.”

“Oh, Cop Hop!” Richie says, getting out of the passenger side, “You wound me so!” He grabs his stuff from the back, barely getting the door closed before Hopper drives off. Turning around to house, Richie loses his smile.

“Fuck.”

7

“Mom, it’s been two hours! Can I go to my room now?”

“No, Michael, you will not.”

“Well he’s obviously not showing up!”

“Richard is probably just lost, Mike.” Karen runs a hand against her forehead. “Don’t fight me on this.” Mike falls back against the couch, grumbling. Nancy was reading a book, though Mike could tell she was distracted, as she was on the same page for the last ten minutes. Holly was playing with her doll, brushing the hair of one. Ted was snoring on his La-Z-Boy

The sound of the doorbell breaks up the tense silence (minus the loud snores), and Karen jumps up from the couch.

“Richard’s here!” Karen run-walks towards the door. “Mike, wake up your father please!” Mike sighs, before shoving Ted’s shoulder. Ted snorts awake, grumbling as he messes with his glasses. Two voices can be faintly heard from the front door. Nancy places a bookmark in her book before standing. She gives Mike a look that conveys “ _ Stand, asshole! _ ” Mike glares back, before standing as well. At that moment, Karen walks into the living room followed by a lanky teen.

Mike dislikes Richard immediately. His hair is too wild, his glasses too big, his clothes too loud. Mike crosses his arms tight. 

“Richard.” Karen smiles at her kids. “This is Nancy, Mike, Holly, and your uncle Ted. Kids, this is your cousin Richard!”

“Wow, Auntie K,” Richard laughs, “You definitely have had fun over the years!” Karen’s smile drops a bit.

“Good to meet you, son,” Ted says, clapping Richad on his back.

“You too, Uncle T.” Richard gives a smile, and Mike decides he dislikes that too.

“Now Richard―” Karen starts, before Richard cuts her off.

“Richie.”   
  
“Huh?” Karen blinks.

“Call me Richie,” Richie readjusts his hold on bags, “The only ones who call me Richard are my parents and Dr. Keene.”   
  
“Who’s Dr. Keene?” Karen asks.

“The old pharmacist in Derry.” Richie shudders. “Creepy old bastard, and his daughter is worse somehow.”

“Anyway.” Karen smiles again. “You will be sleeping in the basement! And Mike will show you where it is!”

“ _ What? _ ” Mike says, causing Karen to glare at him while Richie raises an eyebrow at him.

“Now, Michael.” Karen gives him no room to argue, and Mike rolls his eyes.

“Fine!” Mike takes off towards the basement. “This way.” He can hear Richie’s loud footsteps following him and Mike wonders if there's anything about this guy that’s not loud. Mike stops in front of the door and turns to Richie, who is looking at the door and the back at Mike. Mike squints at him.

“What?”

“Would you be a gentleman and open the door for me?” Richie smiles a big smile and Mike feels himself get more annoyed.

“Why would I do that?”

“My hands are full, Mikey, I can’t very well open that door myself, can I?”

“ _ Mikey? _ ” Mike’s dislike was turning into hatred.

“Well, I know a Mike and it’ll get confusing, so your Mikey now! Unless you want to be called something else.” Richie has this shit eating grin, and Mike wants to wipe it off his face.

“Just Mike! Nothing else!”

“Okay, Just Mike.” Mike storms off towards his room, faintly hearing Richie laugh and his mother call after him. Slamming the door closed, he grabs his SuperCom.

“Guys, I fucking hate my cousin.”

This summer is going to suck.

8

The energy…

The energy in this town…

It’s perfect. Delightful. Perfectly delectable.

Fear basically oozes out of this town. 

So much death. So, so much death.

Oh, how much thanks needs to be given to that Richie boy.

He brought It here after all.

And It was here to stay.

To feed.


	2. A Visit from Old Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cycle begins and Richie is bored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again. this is honestly the fastest i ever wrote something. so i hope its not shit.
> 
> this chapters a bit shorter, but ill try to have longer chapters later
> 
> no big warnings for this chapter so dont worry
> 
> i hope you enjoy the chapter!

1

The woods have always been a safe place for Hannah Beth Washington. They were near her house so she didn’t have to wander far to get to them, but they weren’t close enough to hear the endless fighting between Mommy and Daddy. Today had been really bad and Hannah Beth just wanted to play in the woods.

Plus, the woods were always a fun place to play! With the many secrets behind every tree and the stream that was always cool even in summer. Hannah Beth loved the stream, whether to splash around in or to just stick her feet in. Which is what she was doing right now.

Mommy and Daddy were yelling again, apparently talking about “dee-vorce” or whatever that was. Hannah Beth didn’t know, so she was splashing her feet in the cold stream. It was getting dark and she did not like the dark, but she did not want to go back either.

So Hannah Beth sat.

And Hannah Beth heard a voice.

“Hannah!” The voice cried, “Hanna Beth!” Hannah Beth looked around for the voice, but saw no one around.

“Hello?” Hannah Beth asked the woods, standing up from her spot near the stream.

“Hannah Beth…” The voice cried once more, but it sounded funny. Funny like when your trying to talk with water in the back of your throat.

“Who is it?” Hannah Beth tried again.

“Down here…” The voice says, and the stream makes a weird splash. Hannah Beth looks back down at the stream, kneeling near it again.

“Closer…” The voice whispers, and Hannah Beth obays, leaning in towards the stream.

“Even closer…” The voice says again, but it sounds different. Deeper, almost growling. Still, Hannah Beth obays, thinking it’s all a big game. I mean, what else would someone be in the stream for!

“A bit more…” Hannah Beth leans in, nose nearly touching the surface of the stream. 

All Hannah Beth can make out is two yellow glowing orbs, before a hand reaches out and pulls poor Hannah Beth Washinton under.

2

Richie was fucking bored out of his mind.

The only fun he had was picking on Just Mike. God, it was too easy. But now he was laying on the stupid couch-bed thing he had to sleep on, not knowing what to do. There were a few nerdy posters around, some even Ben would not proudly display. On a shelf was a few board games, but those were no fun unless you had people to play with. (Minus Monopoly, which was never fun. Especially when they played with Stan.) Richie may have to go to the arcade sooner than thought.

“Richie!” Aunt Karen’s voice breaks him out of his thoughts, “Someone’s on the phone for you!”

“Okay, Auntie!” The cure for boredom! Richie runs up the stairs and grabs the phone from Aunt Karen’s hands. “Thanks Auntie K!”

“Just finish up before dinner,” Aunt Karen says, smiling as she turns back into the kitchen.

“Hello?” Richie says into the phone.

“You bitch!” A familiar voice says, and Richie’s lips raise.

“Who, me?”

“Yes you, you bitch!” Beverly Marsh says, “When were you planning on telling me you were moving! Ben had to tell me!”

“Now now, Miss Marsh,” Richie says, “You clearly have the facts wrong. I did not move, no siree! I’m only staying for the summer. Check your dealer before you say such absurd things.”

  
“Hardy har, Trashmouth,” Bev says, “Now, what’s Hawkins like? And when can I come up to visit.”

  
“Visit any time, please, I’m so bored,” Richie groaned, “And Hawkins is exactly like Derry, minus the clown and all.”

“Really? Like down to the ugly vibe?”

“To a T.” Richie looked down at the scar on his palm. “It’s probably me not wanting to be here, though.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Bev said, “But what matters now is when we’re going up to visit you!”

“Anytime soon, please, I’m _ sooooooo _ bored.” Aunt Karen walks back in, and mouths ‘Dinners ready’. Richie nods in acknowledgement. “Welp, Bev, I think my time is being cut short.”

  
“Boo, Trashmouth,” Bev says, “What happened to Richie ‘I-Bow-To-No-Man’ Tozier?”

“Gone, just like my ol’ soul, Bev!”

“Poor, poor Trashmouth,” Bev says with a laugh. “Love you, dork.”

  
“Love you too, Molly Ringwald.”

“You better be thankful I’m not there to throttle you with my bare hands, Dick.”

  
“That just sounds like a good night, Miss Marsh.”

  
“Bye, Richie!” And with that, Bev hung up. Richie placed the phone down with a laugh. Aunt Karen was looking at him with a knowing look.

“So,” She started, “Bev, huh?”

“Yeah, Bev?” Richie said, leaning against the counter.

“You two seem close.”

  
“Yeah, she’s like the sister I never wanted but happy to have.”

  
“Sister…” Karen says, turning back to the kitchen, “Sure. Anyway, dinners ready. And we eat it together!”

Richie sighed. You win some, you lose some.

3

There was evil in Hawkins. Jane could feel it.

It wasn’t the normal Hawkins version of evil either. No, it was different. And it was pulsing through Hawkins in waves. Like the feeling of the Demogorgan, or the Shadow Monster.

But that wasn’t right, Jane closed the gate.

Still, the feeling wouldn’t shake itself from her mind.

“Hop,” Jane said that night at dinner, the man in question looking up at her from the TV dinner, “Somethings wrong in Hawkins.”

  
“What do you mean?” Hopper asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Like…like Upside Down wrong.” Jane looked him in the eyes. “Bad.”

  
“You closed the gate, Jane, so it’s not possible.” Hopper said, shaking his head.

“I know, but.” Jane leans back in her chair. “I can’t shake the feeling.”

  
“Listen,” Hopper said, leaning on his elbows, “Dead rabbits have been popping up, but it’s the work of some cult.”

  
“Cult?”

  
“A group of weird people who do weird shit.” He pauses. “Never join one.”

  
“Okay…”

  
“But we’re trying to find this cult, and then bam!” Hopper snaps. “Hawkins is back to normal!”

“...Promise?” Jane holds out her pinky, something Will taught her a few weeks ago.

“Promise.” Hopper wraps his pinky around hers, and then stands. “It’s time for bed for this old man. Long day at work.”

“Goodnight, Hop,” Jane says, still not moving from the table.

“Night, Jane.” Hopper puts his plate in the sink, and then goes to his room. Jane stares at her own plate.

Something isn’t right, and Jane is scared.

  


4

It’s his second day in Hawkins, and Richie still fucking hates it.

There is nothing to do in the house, with Uncle Ted hogging the TV and his cousins―minus Holly―leaving the house at the first opportunity.

Dinner was awkward at best. Just Mike refused to speak to him, communicating through glares, and Nancy was silent for the duration of dinner. Aunt Karen tried to start small talk, but it fell flat. Only Holly seemed to have fun that dinner. And Uncle Ted, but he was just enjoying the chicken.

Richie just needed to get out. And then he sat up on his bed. The arcade!

“Problem solver right there, Tozier.” Richie rushed up the stairs, vaguely aware he wasn’t fully dressed. Aunt Karen was at the kitchen table on the phone. Looking up at the sound of his footsteps, she lowers the phone after whispering “Wait a second, Janet.”

“Richie, what is it?”

“Can I borrow the car, Auntie K?” Richie says, pushing up his glasses.

“Why?”

  
“I want to go out on the town and don’t feel like walking.”

“I guess,” Aunt Karen says after a minute, “Just don’t crash it.”

  
“I said I don’t want to walk, didn’t I?”

“And please,” Aunt Karen smiles an exasperated smile, “Put on some pants before you go out.”

“Hawkins could only _ wish _ they could see me without pants on, Auntie K!” Richie says, already walking downstairs. Grabbing his pair from yesterday, he shoves them on along with a random Hawaiian shirt and rushes back upstairs, eager to escape the boredom of the Wheeler house. Grabbing the set of keys Aunt Karen tells him to, Richie is out the door and off towards the arcade. 

The ride isn’t long, with Richie blasting the radio and singing along off-key and the most interesting thing being a blue Camaro speed the other side of the street. For a moment, Richie was reminded of the late Belch Huggins’ old Trans Am. One that helped torment the Losers Club for years. And the poor bodies of Belch Huggins and Victor Criss were later found in. Richie shuddered at the thought.

If only Richie had a car then. Maybe he could have outdrove Henry and his goons. God, he wishes he could have his own car now, but his parents won’t get him one. Richie’s been saving, and with a few more months of working, he’ll get some cheap beat up car to call his own. Even if he doesn’t have to escape Bowers anymore.

Richie pulls up into the arcade parking lot soon after, and walks in to see a surprise.

“Well, well, well, isn’t it Just Mike! I was wondering where you went, bud!” Just Mike stiffens at the sound of Richie’s voice, and the kids around him seem confused.

“Bug off, asshole…” Mike grumbles.

“Not until you introduce me to your friends here!” The kids in question look at each other in confusion, before the one with a hat walks forward and holds out his hand.

“Dustin.” Richie looks at his hand and laughs, grabbing it in a firm handshake.

“Tozier. Richie Tozier,” Richie says with a grin. Mike is glaring at him, trying to kill Richie with his eyes.

“Dude,” The black one says, “Did you quote James Bond?”

  
  
“And what if I did? Maybe James Bond quoted me?”

“That doesn’t even make sense!”

“Well, we both get the women.” Richie sticks his hand back into his pocket. “One of which just happens to be your mom.” The redhead snorts a bit, and Richie smiles.

“Is he really your cousin or some weird guy found on the road?” The black kid says, turning back to Mike who shrugs.

“Let me get your name first before you call me weird!”

  
“Why should I give you my name?”

  
“Because you obviously know mine. I wanna make it even!”

  
“That’s Lucas,” The redhead steps forward, “I’m Max.”

  
“See, Reds nice!” Max raises her eyebrows at the nickname. “Why can’t you be the same, Lukie?”

“_ Lukie? _” 

“Would you rather be Snarky?”

“Just give up,” Mike says, turning back towards the game that a smaller boy was playing, “He refuses to call me by my name.”

  
  
“You told me to call you Just Mike! Monkey see, monkey do!” 

“You knew what I meant, asshole!” Mike is clenching his fists at his side, and Richie’s smile gets wider.

“Anyway, we have Dusty, Red, and Lukie, but who’s this guy?” Richie points at the smaller kid who just finished a silent game of Pac-Man.

“That’s Will,” Red says, but Will is looking at him with a weird look.

“Willy-Baby, ok!” Will blushes and looks away at the nickname, and Richie is silently grateful. That look creeped him out. Like Will was looking directly into his soul. “Well, I would love to stick around and chat, but these games aren’t going to play themselves. See ya, Mikey and his nerd gang!” Richie can hear Mike’s voice yelling at him as he goes to the hidden Street Fighter in the corner.

As long as he can stay here for the summer, Richie might be fine.

5

Lucas was pretty annoyed.

First, Mike’s dumb cousin comes up and picks on them. Then, Max says he’s not that bad. Calling him funny or some shit like that. _ Then, _ Dustin beats his high-score on Galaga! Over all, it’s been a shitty day.

Riding his bike along a street near the woods, Lucas huffed in annoyance. Could this day get any worse? A growl breaks him out of his thoughts and Lucas freezes.

He knows that kind of growl. Lucas remembers that growl _ very _ clearly.

It’s the growl that haunts his dreams. The kind that is hungry and angry all in one.

It’s the growl of the Demogorgon.

Lucas turns his head to the noise, hoping to find a bear or a wolf. What he sees is rows and rows and rows of teeth. Sharp needle like teeth on a flower face.

The scariest thing isn’t the fact the Demogorgon is there, but the fact that it seemed to be smiling. Lucas was snapped out of his shock at the fact that Demogorgon was moving towards him. And fast. Lucas turns away and starts peddling. He pushes his feet down with such vigor since the Party was being chased by the Bad Men.

Lucas is almost home, when he finlly decides to look back. The Demogorgon is gone.

Instead, there is a single red balloon.

6

“Auntie K, I’m home!” Richie yells, throwing the keys onto a random table. The arcade was fine, but it left more sad than he thought. Richie misses playing Street Fighter with Bill and Bev―who was the only one that could beat him.

“Okay! Dinner should be ready in fifteen minutes!” Richie whistles. He didn’t think he was out that long. But he wasn’t complaining.

“Can I use the phone?” Richie says, already moving towards the phone.

“Just finish up before dinner!” Richie sends a thumbs up at Karens direction, and dials the number he knows by heart.

“Kaspbrak residence.” Eddie’s voice comes over the phone.

“Hello, is a certain Mrs. K there? I promised her phone sex before I left.” Richie sees Aunt Karen look up in confusion and he just smiles at her.

  
  
“Beep beep, Richie,” Eddie says, but there’s no real bit behind the words. “How’s Hawkins?”

“Boring, nothing’s the same without you, Spaghetti Head.”

“Call me that again and then nothing will be the same for you ever again.”

  
  
“Oooh, fiesty,” Richie says with a goofy grin on his face, “Just how I like it.”

“Shut up,” Eddie responds, voice light, “How’s your cousins?”

“One hates me and one avoids me like the pague. The only one who seems to like me is the five year old.” Richie leans against the counter.

“Do I need to come up there and beat up your cousins?” Richie’s smile becomes bigger.

  
  
“I don’t know if Auntie Karen will be very happy with that, Eds.”

“Fuck your Aunt, Rich.”

  
  
“You want to fuck my Aunt?” Aunt Karen looks up again, but this time in horror. It takes all of Richie’s admittly low self control to not burst out laughing right then and there.

“Ew, no, Trashmouth!” Eddie says, “I just want to fuck your sister!” Richie finally laughs, leaning farther on the counter. Aunt Karen is still staring at him, along with Nancy who just came in.

“Yowza yowza _ yowza _! Eddie Spaghetti gets off a good one!” Aunt Karen just shakes her head and mouths ‘Dinner’ before walking off, followed by a flabbergasted Nancy.

“My Aunt is telling me to sign off, Eds.”

“Already? I thought my mom would be the one to end this!”

“Well, Auntie K says six is always dinner time, so...”

  
  
Eddie was silent for a moment, before he speaks up again. “I miss you, Chee…”

  
  
“I miss you too, Eds, god it’s soooooo boooooring without you!”

“Shut up.” There was a pause. “I love you, Richie.”

  
  
“I love you too, Eddie.” Richie says, fully meaning it. 

“Richie! Dinner!” Aunt Karen yells, causing Richie to swear.

“I really got to go, Eds. See you soon?”

“See you soon, Rich.” The dial tone fills Richie’s ear, and he sighs.

They’ll see each other soon. Richie knows it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title was actually from the It Miniseries, so thats cool 
> 
> honesty i have no idea how to write lucas so thats probably why his part is so short
> 
> on the other hand i love writing bev and eddie
> 
> buts its back and in full swing
> 
> fun fact: i write all of its parts listening to the official It soundtrack but listen to eighties music for every other scene


	3. Jane Hopper Meets the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More kids go missing, Richie is suspicious, and the Party make some discoveries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, just want to say thank you for all the kind words it absolutely makes my day and makes me smile so thank you for that!!
> 
> anyway, i hope you enjoy this chapter!!

1

Stacy Albright, despite popular belief, loved the woods.

Sure, she pretended to prefer gossip over the woods, but gossip gets boring after a while. The woods never do. Plus the woods never turn the gossip on her.

Well, minus the weird sewer pipe that stuck out in the middle of the woods, connecting to the stream. Stacy stayed away from that part. Though when she felt particularly brave, she would sit near it. However, she wouldn’t let this stupid pipe get in the way of her favorite place in this God forsaken town.

And that’s what Stacy was doing now, sitting near the stupid pipe, staring off into the woods. The day had sucked, majorly. The girls she was friends with just liked her for her money, Stacy knew for a fact. But she didn’t have any other friends.

It was better to be liked for money rather than not liked at all.

Though it really hurt to think of her closest friend, Katherine, like that. Stacy really liked Katherine. They’ve been through thick and thin together. They told each other everything. Katherine was the only one who knew of Stacy’s outings in the woods, and Stacy was the only one who knew that Katherine was pressured by her mom to be popular and do good in school. It was the closest thing to a true friendship that Stacy knows.

Still, some part of Stacy couldn’t help but think that Katherine just stayed with her due to her wealth.

And that fucking hurt. Alot.

Before she knew it, Stacy was crying. She was in the middle of the fucking woods and crying over her best friend not liking her.

“Fuck…” Stacy muttered, wiping her cheeks as she stood. It wasn’t good to just sit here and wallow in her own self pity. Composing herself the best she could, Stacy headed off into the woods she knew so well. If only she could make it that far.

“Stacy!” A familiar voice cried out from the sewer pipe. “Stacy in here!”

  
“Katherine?” Stacy called back, turning to face the pipe. “Katherine is that you?”

“Stacy!” Katherine’s voice yelled back, and Stacy walked closer. “I’m in the sewer and I’m stuck! Please help!”

“Hold on, Katherine!” Stacy yelled, running into the sewer, “I’m coming!”

“Stacy!” Stacy ran further in, not caring about the shitty water soaking her new shoes. Katherine’s voice was ringing all around her, making Stacy’s head pound.

“Where are you!” Stacy yelled out, hearing her own voice ring back a few times. 

“Over here, Stacy!” Stacy turned in the direction of the voice, and saw a figure in the shadows. It was kneeled over on it’s hands and knees. Stacy moved closer.

“Katherine, is that you?” The figure stood, and Stacy realized that it wasn’t Katherine. Katherine wasn’t eight feet tall nor did she have a silver clown suit. It turned to face Stacy, and all she saw was beady yellow lights for eyes. The thing smiled, proudly displaying a row of shark-like teeth. Stacy couldn’t keep in the bloodcurdling scream if she wanted too, and she turned to run far away from whatever It was.

Stacy only made it a few steps before something grabbed her ankle, causing her to fall face first into the shitty water. Stacy groaned, picking her face from the nasty water. Only to see a figure staring at her. A figure Stacy knew all too well.

There, watching her, was Katherine.

Only, something wasn’t right. Katherine was smiling. And it wasn’t the smile that Stacy loved to see. It was a colder smile. One full of poison. The kind an elk sees before the wolf pounces.

“Katherine!” Stacy yelled, attempting to stand, only to be pulled down again by the mysterious force in the sewer water. Stacy then remembered why she fell in the first place. “Katherine help me!”

“Why should I?” Katherine asked, a smirk toying her red lips as she flipped her long hair over her shoulder. Stacy froze. Katherine’s voice lacked the honey sweet tone that made Stacy feel better even on the worst days. No, Katherine’s voice was now packed with needles and sharp knives and broken glass and basically anything that could cut Stacy into little pieces. The thing tugged on Stacy’s leg, pulling her deeper into the sewer. Stacy pulled back, grabbing a metal bar sticking up from the water.

“Katherine, please!” Stacy cried, feeling the thing tug on her leg harder, “This thing’s trying to kill me!”

  
“Boo-hoo,” Katherine mocked with a crooked grin, “Poor poor Albright...all alone with no one to help her.” The thing tugged harder, and Stacy let out a sob.

“Katherine,  _ please! _ ” Stacy was losing her grip on the metal bar, and the thing was only tugging harder and harder. “Please help me!”

“Silly Albright, I thought you knew this,” Katherine said, leaning down to look Stacy in the eye. Her normally lively brown eyes were now an atrocious neon orange. “Only friends help each other out.” And with that, Katherine stood, walking away from a sobbing Stacy.

“Katherine! Katherine wait!” Stacy yelled after her retreating figure. There was one last tug, and Stacy was pulled away from the metal bar. She screamed as was pulled deeper and deeper in, clawing in vain at the water around her.

“KATHERINE!” Stacy cried out for the last time, before she was pulled deep into the sewers, never to be seen again.

2

Orange, red, white, yellow.

Orange, red, white, yellow.

Those were the colors that Will was using at midnight, still covered in a cold sweat from the images that flashed in his mind all night. He couldn’t stop his hand from drawing the subject of nightmares.

_ Maybe a bit of black,  _ Will thought, already grabbing the color,  _ for the evil aura surrounding it. _ He shaded it around the figure.

_ Thinking about it, Richie had a similar aura,  _ Will thought, placing down the crayons,  _ but different. Weird. _

Will leaned back, and looked at the picture in front of him. What stared back was a ghost white clown face with the only pops of color being the two red lines that ran up from his mouth and the equally red nose. Bright orange hair sat wildly on his head, making the yellow eyes pop. Black surrounded the picture, giving the already evil-looking clown the finishing touch.

There was the clown that haunted his dreams. Maybe this was the clown that Bob was talking about once, Mr. Baldo if Will remembered correctly.

“Mr. Baldo…” Will muttered, before the clown looked at him. Will shot up from his chair, knocking it over.

“Not Mr. Baldo, Zombie Boy!” The clown said, and Will could only stare in shock as his picture smiled, “I’m Pennywise the Dancing Clown!” Will backed away, cupping his hands around his ears. The voice was the same as the ones in his dreams.

“Now now, Zombie Boy,” Pennywise says, and Will hits the wall, sinking down to the floor, “No need to be so scared! Just join the circus, Will! We float,” Pennywise chuckles, “We all float! And guess what? You’ll!” Pennywise’s voice was louder. “Float!” And louder. “TOO!” The word pierced Wills skull, causing him to clutch his head as the clown laughed maniacally.

  
“ _ No!”  _ Will screams, and the door slams open, revealing an alert Joyce and Jonathan, the latter of which is holding an axe. Joyce immediately runs to his side with Jonathan searching the room, axe held high.

“Will!” Joyce cries, grabbing his hands off his face, “Will, what happened!” Will looks over to the picture, seeing that its back to normal. Wordlessly, he points at it.

“A picture?” Jonathan asks, picking up the drawing. “What happened with this?”

“It…” Will began, “It came to life...and it told me I was going to float…”

“Float?” Joyce asked, looking between her two sons. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Will says, “But I know it’s not good.” Will looks between the two of them. “I think something is happening again, but this time it’s worse. Way, way worse.”

3

Richie walked into the kitchen, just wanting some cereal, and was greeted to a hushed Nancy on the phone and an anxious Mike sitting at the table.

“Whoa, why do you guys look like someone took a shit in the Corn Flakes?” Mike sent him a glare while Nancy hung up the phone, turning to look at Mike.

“We have to go.” Mike nodded, already running towards the front door.

“Wait, Nancy Drew―” Nancy turned to him with a finger pointed directly at his chest, glaring up at him.

“Call me that again and I will not hesitate to slap you.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Richie said, raising his hands in surrender as he backed away, “Easy tiger! I just want to know where you and Mikey are heading off to in such a hurry!”

  
“That’s none of your business,” Mike said from his spot at the doorway, “And we have to go now, Nancy!”

  
“Don’t you think I know that, asshole?” Nancy snapped back, grabbing the keys as she stormed out after him.

“Come on, don’t leave me hanging!” Richie yelled after them, before grumbling to himself. Picking up the other pair of keys, Richie yelled to Aunt Karen who stole the phone from where Nancy was to state he was leaving, before grabbing the other car.

“Tozier’s out and about, Hawkins beware!” Richie says as he enters town, heading straight for the movie theater. Playing are  _ Alien  _ and  _ Stand By Me _ and Richie isn’t sure what to see. He loves a good horror movie, but recently his love for horror has died down. Stepping out of the car, Richie looks around only to spot a few pieces of paper on a lamp post. There were only a few, but they seemed to be the same.

They were missing posters.

And looking closer, they were missing posters of kids.

Not adults, kids.

Stacy Albright, age 14. Missing.

Hannah Beth Washington, age 8. Missing.

They were all kids and they were all  _ missing. _

A voice broke Richie out of his panic-filled thoughts. “Are you alright?” Richie turned to see an older woman staring at him. Richie blinked, struggling to find his voice. The old woman turns to lamp post and sighs.

“Terrible isn’t it? So many kids missing.”

“Yeah…” Richie finally speaks, “Terrible.”

  
“Be safe, dearie! And don’t stay out too late!” The old woman says before she walks off. Richie turns back to the lamp post.

_ It doesn’t make sense,  _ Richie thinks,  _ we killed It! Plus this is Hawkins, not Derry. This is simply a coincidence. There is no murderous clown in Hawkins, Richie! _

Richie sighed, before climbing back in the car.

He really didn’t feel like a movie now.

4

Jane sat in the Byers house, watching the people she came to know so well trickle in. Her and the party (Minus Mike) were on the couch in silence as Joyce and Hopper talked in the kitchen. Steve and Jonathan were standing near the recliner, whispering things to each other. The door opened, and the Wheelers rushed in.

“Couldn’t you have gone faster?” Mike said, rushing over to where Jane was. She smiled upon seeing him, and Mike seemed to relax. He squished between her and Will, gripping her left hand.

“God just shut up, Mike,” Nancy groaned, finding her own place on the chair between Steve and Jonathan.

“We’re only late because you got held up by Richie, so it is your fault,” Mike grumbled, and Nancy glared at him. Mike returned it full force.

“Hey,” Hopper said, walking in from the kitchen with Joyce in tow, “We have business to take care of, so save the family drama for later.”

“Why are we even here in the first place?” Steve asked, “Like all I was told was to get over here.”

“Will? Jane?” Hopper said, looking at them. Will looked at his hands while Jane squeezed Mike’s.

“Something bad is happening…” Jane finally said, looking up at the group around her. Will nodded, looking up as well.

“Something bad? What does that mean?” Max asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Really bad,” Will said, “Like Upside Down bad.” The group looks around at each other.

“Great,” Steve says, rubbing a hand through his hair, “Really fucking great.”

“How do we know it’s that bad?” Nancy asks, “I mean the worst is dead animals popping up, right?”

“Kids are missing,” Hopper says, crossing his arms, “Four at the moment, but there could be more.”

“And I saw the Demogorgon yesterday,” Lucas says, shifting the attention over to him.

“What!”

“Why didn’t you tell us!”

“I thought I was crazy!” Lucas defends, holding his hands up, “El closed the gate, so why would a Demogorgan be here!”

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Will says, “Because the picture I drew came to life.” Will showed a picture of a creepy clown, and it sent a chill up Jane’s spine. “And I saw Pennywise in my nightmares.”

“Pennywise?” Mike asks, gripping Jane’s hand tighter.

“That what he said his name was.” Will placed the picture on the table. “Pennywise the Dancing Clown.”

“But why did Lucas see the Demogorgan?” Dustin asks.

“Maybe he didn’t?” Max suggests, “I mean it could have just been a bear or something?”

“No, I swear I saw the Demogorgan,” Lucas yells, “I would know the growl anywhere!”

“So we have a weird clown and a Demogorgan?” Mike asks, falling back against the couch. 

“Great, that’s fucking great…” Steve groans, pacing around.

“Where did you see the Demogorgan?” Hopper asks.

“The woods.” Lucas says, leaning against Max.

“And the clown was on the paper?” Will nods. “Great. We keep the paper with us, and we set the Demo-thingy on fire.” 

“Wait, but in my dreams, I saw the clown in the sewers.”

“Sewers? Who’d want to live in the sewers?” Lucas asks, disgust gracing his face.

“I could find him,” Jane says, turning all the attention to her.

“You sure?” Joyce asks, squatting next to her. Jane nods.

“We need to find the clown, and this is the easiest way.” They get situated, with the TV turning to static as she places a blindfold over her eyes. Then she was in the void.

Jane saw a figure in the void, and she walked over to it slowly. It was Pennywise, but she couldn’t make out the surroundings.

Then, he turned towards her. But the face wasn’t the one on picture that Will drew.

It was the face of years and years of trauma. Years of pain and years of being used.

“Eleven,” Papa- no, Brenner, says, “What are you doing?”

“Papa…” Jane says, shaking her head.

“You have a terrible wound, Eleven,” Brenner said, getting closer, “A terrible, terrible wound.”

“No, no no no,” Jane whispers, tears welling up in her eyes. “You’re not real, you’re dead…”

“Of course I’m real,” Brenner smiles, “The tattoo on you makes me real.”

“No!” Jane screams, as Brenner laughed a wild laugh.

“Come with me, Eleven, come and float!” Brenner says, but his voice was different. It was light and mocking, but there was a sense of dread behind the words. Brenner was starting to look different as well. He was now wearing a clown outfit, and holding a red balloon.

“We all float, Eleven, and you’ll float too!” Brenner wasn’t Brenner anymore, he was now the Dancing Clown that Will drew. Jane screamed, and suddenly there was a blinding light, and worrying faces staring at her.

“El, hey hey.” Mike holds her close as she leans back against him. “You’re safe, El...you’re safe.” He wipes her cheeks, and she turns to sob against him. Mike pulls her closer, whispering reassurances in her hair.

“What happened?” Nancy asked, passing a tissue over.

“I saw…” Jane sniffed, pulling away from the safe hold, wiping her nose with the tissue, “I saw Pa- Brenner...but it wasn’t Brenner...it was the clown.”

“Wait, how is that possible?” Steve asked, crossing his arms.

“Maybe the clown is a shapeshifter?” Dustin suggested, “Like it changes forms?”

“That,” Mike starts, wrapping his arms around Jane, “That actually makes sense.”

“Maybe that was what the Demogorgan was!” Nancy snaps her fingers.

“I’m still going to have to investigate the woods, still,” Hopper sighed, running a hand down his beard, “I need to investigate them for the missing kids, so might as well kill two birds with one stone.”

“We should be heading back, Mike,” Nancy said, “Unless we want Mom to have a cow.”

“Can’t we sleep over?” Mike groaned.

“Not with the kids missing, Mom will freak. Plus she wants us to stay because of Richie.” Mike groans, before standing, pulling Jane with him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, El…” Mike smiles.

“See you, Mike…” El smiles back. But it felt fake. She can’t get Brenner’s voice out of her head. It’s ringing around her, echoing pain and pain and  _ pain. _

“Mike, come on!” Nancy yells from the door.

“Coming!” Mike yells, running after her.

Jane dropped her smile.

She may not be strong enough for this one. Not if it could be Brenner.

5

“This tea is mar’vulous, Madame Holly!” Richie said, sipping water in a tiny, plastic teacup. He donned his Toodles the English Butler voice (which had gotten better, Stan, so fuck you.) for this occasion, sitting criss-cross on the floor, surrounded by Holly’s finest dolls. Ribbons colored his dark hair, making a lot of his hair stick up even more.

“Of course it is, Richie!” Holly giggled, pouring more into his cup.

“I expected it to be wonderful, but this! This is better than anything I could imagine, wot-wot!” Truly, he only agreed to have this tea party because he needed a distraction.

“Wot-wot!” Holly agreed, giggling more. Then front door opened, and a mad Mike and exasperated Nancy coming in.

“Here yee, here yee!” Richie greeted them, causing Mike to glare at him. It was then that Richie noticed that his shirt was wet and had drops of blood on it. “What’s with the blood?” The voice was dropped, and Richie stood, ignoring Holly’s protests.

“What’s with the ribbons?” Mike shot back. Nancy was already up the stairs, away from the bullshit downstairs.

“Me and little Holly here were having a tea party, guv’ner!” Richie switched back into the voice easily, gesturing to the set up on the floor. “Want to join, good chap?”

“No, why would I want to hang out with you?” Mike snapped, before running up to his own room. Richie sighed, before turning back to Holly.

“Want to paint my nails?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that’s on that
> 
> if it wasn’t obvious, stacy albright was the girl who turned down dustin in season 2 and had the drink exploded in season 3
> 
> i had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and im excited for the next chapter!


	4. A Simple Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Turtle in contacted and Richie makes a call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello 
> 
> i am loving all the kind words, legit make my day
> 
> anyway, im seeing chapter 2 today, so that’s a yay!! but that also means we may not get an update for a while as i try to process it
> 
> Warning for this chapter  
A graphic(?) description of a dead body
> 
> other than that enjoy the chapter!!

1

“Tommy, where are we going?” Carol asked, glancing back and forth between her boyfriend and the strange path they were taking.

“A secret, romantic place, darling.” Tommy smiled. Carol huffed and fell back against the seat.

“It’s like midnight, Tommy, and kids are missing!” Carol sighed, chewing her lip nervously. “What if we’re next?”

“Hey,” Tommy said, turning to look at her as the car stopped, “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  
“Tommy, what if we’re right in this freaks little hidey-hole?”

“Then I’ll fight him, simple.” Tommy shrugged, and Carol sighed again.

“I just think this is a bad idea.”

“Would you rather be home, with your sister?” Carol looked away. Her sister, Megan, was home from college for the summer, and Carol couldn’t stand to be in the same house as her. Her parents always loved Megan more. Megan had the perfect grades, Megan had the clean-cut look, Megan had the perfect boyfriend who was studying to be a lawyer. Megan this and Megan that. Carol knew she was nothing in the eyes of her parents. Always snarky, always had B’s, always had the “bad” boyfriend. Below Megan.

“Shut up, Tommy…” Carol slapped his shoulder, turning away from him.

“We’re here anyway,” Tommy said, leaning back in his seat. Carol looked out, and couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face.

“The quarry, really?” The quarry was by far her favorite place in Hawkins, not because of the water or the scenery, but because it was  _ their _ place. Tommy and Carol. The rulers of quarry, Tommy once said. They had their first date here, their first fight, their first kiss, and their first true, deep conversation. It was like they were the only two people alive at the quarry. The only two that mattered.

“We can turn around if you want,” Tommy muttered, before Carol let out a laugh.

“You dick, you should have told me we were going to the quarry!”

“But what’s the fun in that,” Tommy said, turning back towards her. Carol giggled, and leaned in closer.

“Alot actually,” Carol said, her mouth inches away from Tommy’s, “We can have a lot of fun…”

“I love your games, babe…” Tommy smirked, and Carol could feel his hot breath on her face.

A thud on the car broke the mood pretty quickly. Carol let out a yelp as she moved back.

“What the hell…” Tommy said, eyes looking out the windows. There was nothing out of place outside, which somehow freaked Carol out more.

“Tommy, what was that?”

“I don’t know…” Tommy said, “Hold on.” And Tommy stepped out of the car.

“Tommy!” Carol yelled, but stayed frozen in the car. Tommy walked around a bit, before turning back to Carol, arms raised.

“Nothing,” Tommy says, “Whatever it was probably left by now.”

“I don’t fucking care, get back in car!” Carol yelled, still freaked out.

“Fine…” Tommy walked to the car, and Carol saw a dark figure behind him.

“Tommy! Behind you!” Tommy turned around, and the car door shut. “Tommy!” The figure fell on Tommy, and she heard his screams from all around her. Then, it went quiet. Carol finally got her senses back, opening her door, running out into the woods. 

“Shit, shit, shit…” Carol muttered, running deep into the woods. Then, the ground rushed her, as her feet flew up and head down. Looking back at the thing that tripped her, Carol could only scream in horror.

There was the remains of Tommy. His left arm had been ripped clean off, blood splattered like an abstract painting around him. There were bite marks decorating his neck, and the whole left side of his face was stripped off, bits of bone peaking out. His eyes were frozen wide in terror.

“Tommy!” Carol sobbed, shuffling back, cupping her mouth with her hands. She hit a tree, and leaned back against it, sobbing harder.

Then the tree laughed. And Carol looked up, seeing a clown soaked in blood staring back at her. She screamed, and the clown grabbed her head. Carol felt the worst pain of her life, as the clown pulled up.

Carol blacked out as she felt her head snap off.

2

Jane was back in the void, but this time, she wasn’t there voluntarily.

Jane, in fact, wanted to get some sleep. The events of the day left her exhausted and Jane just wanted the embrace of sleep.

However, here she was, in the void.

And she was staring at giant turtle.

“Hello, Jane,” The Turtle said, his voice was calm and warm, and Jane, despite herself, felt safe.

“How do you know my name?”

“I know more than you think, Jane Hopper,” The Turtle said.

“Why am I here?” Jane asks, staring up at the massive turtle.

“The Spider has come back, and I intend to have It killed, for good.”

“The Spider?” 

“Pennywise, as you all know it.”

“How do we kill...the Spider?”

He hummed, before answering. “You need the Seven Keys.”

“Seven...keys?”

“Yes, the Seven Keys to killing the Spider.”

“The Key of Heart, the Key of Leadership, the Key of Belief, the Key of Logic, the Key of Remembrance, the Key of Fight, and the Key of Creativity.”

“How do we find these keys?”

“The Key of Heart is closer than you think,” The Turtle suddenly glances around, huge eyes narrowed. “You must go. The Spider is here.”

Jane gasped awake, rubbing the blood off her nose.

“Seven keys…”

3

“What do you mean ‘Seven Keys?’” Dustin asked, the group was together again in the Byers living room.

“The Seven Keys for killing the Spider,” Jane said, leaning against Mike, “They all represent something different.”

“What do they represent?” Nancy asks.

“Heart, leadership, belief, logic, remembrance, fight and creativity. Those are the keys.”

“I don’t get it,” Steve speaks up, “The only one of those that actually sounds like it can help us is fight.”

“Why do we need heart of all things!” Lucas says.

“That’s what the Turtle says.” Jane says.

“Did he tell you where these keys are?” Mike asks.

“He said the Key of Heart is closer than we think.”

“Great, the useless one!” Lucas groans, throwing his hands up.

“We don’t actually know that, shithead!” Dustin smacks Lucas’ arm, who smacks Dustin’s arm in defense. 

“Hey, hey, HEY!” Hoppers voice booms over the chaos. “We are NOT doing that right now! Right now, we are finding these keys!” The boys both mutter a small sorry, heads down.

“So...” Jonathan speaks up “The heart key is in Hawkins?”

“It’s safe to assume...” Nancy mutters, crossing her arms over her chest.

“And Pennywise is the Spider?” Jane nods at Jonathan’s question.

“Okay, making sure…”

“How are we gonna find a tiny ass key?” Max asks.

“It might be big?” Lucas said weakly, raising his shoulders in a question. Max just shoved his shoulder, groaning.

“Maybe it’s a metaphorical key?” Will said.

“What do you mean?” Joyce asks.

“Like...maybe the keys are like shapes? Or an apple!”

“Why would the key be an apple?” Mike asks, wrapping his arms around Jane.

“It’s just an example,” Will sighs.

“Let’s just be on the lookout for some keys, okay?” Hopper sighs, “I have to get to work, some teens were found dead in the woods.”

“Who?” Nancy leans close.

“Tommy Holt and Carol Smith.” Steve’s face pales, and he runs a hand through his hair.

“Fuck,” He says, “Really?”

“You know ‘em kid?”

“Yeah...yeah I did,” Steve says, before walking out the front door, “I need a minute.”

“Steve…” Nancy peruses her lips, running after him with Jonathan close behind. The group was silent for a minute, before Hopper groaned, grabbing his hat.

“I really have to go, Jane you can stay here until I get back.” And with that, Hopper left as well.

“Well,” Joyce says, giving a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “Who wants pancakes?”

4

“Steve!” Walk faster.

“Steve, wait!” Faster.

“Steve!” Dammit.

“What do you want, Nancy?” Steve said, turning to face her. Nancy slowed to a stop, crossing her arms.

“You shouldn’t be alone, especially at a time like this.”

“Like what?” Steve waved his arms around, “With people dying? People who I was once friends with dying?”

“Yes!” Nancy threw her hands down, “Exactly like that!”

“Nance,” Steve ribbed a hand through his hair, “I can’t do this...I could barely do the Demogorgan or Demodogs. How can I do a shapeshifting clown?”

“Steve…” Nancy said, “You’re strong. You can do this.” Jonathan caught up to the two, standing awkwardly behind Nancy.

“Nance…” Steve said before he broke. Tears ran down his face as a ugly sob escaped the confines of his throat. Both Nancy and Jonathan were suddenly at his side, hugging Steve as he slowly lowered to the ground. They stayed like that for a period of time before Steve started to calm down.

“They apologized,” Steve muttered, leaning his head against the crook of Jonathan’s neck.

“What?” Jonathan asked, looking down at Steve.

“Tommy and Carol, they apologized.” Steve sat up a bit, looking up at the sky. “They wanted to be friends again. That was a week ago. And now they’re dead.”

“Oh, Steve,” Nancy gasped, leaning closer to him, “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t,” Steve interrupted, “Don’t pity me.” They fell silent for a minute, before Jonathan broke it.

“What if the Spider is the one who killed Tommy and Carol?” Nancy and Steve looked at him, and Jonathan blushed. “I mean, with this thing going around and stealing kids, it’s safe to assume that it can also kill them.”

“That,” Nancy starts, “that actually makes sense.”

“So we have to find the keys?” Steve says, looking between the two, “Because I really want to kill this fucking spider.”

“Let’s find these keys,” Nancy smiles.

“Looks like the monster hunting trio is back in business,” Jonathan jokes.

“I wish we could fucking catch a break already.” Steve says, standing with the other.

“After this, let’s go on a road trip,” Nancy says, “To the beach.”

“The beach sounds great,” Jonathan says. Steve smiles at the two.

He’d love to be at the beach with them anytime.

5

“Don’t stop me now…” Richie muttered, sitting on the steps of the Hawk, smoking a cigarette he nicked from the general store nearby. He was going to see Alien, but left halfway through. Richie wasn’t in the mood for horror after yesterday.

“I’m having such a good time, I’m having a ball.” Richie stubbed out his cigarette. In reality, that was not the case. He was not having a ball.

“Don’t stop me now…” Richie stood, heading back to the car, swinging the keys around.

“If you wanna have a good time, just give me a call.” A piece of paper stuck on the window stopped Richie. Picking the paper up, Richie went pale and he wanted to vomit.

It was a missing poster. But it wasn’t any missing poster. 

It was his missing poster. The one from Niebolt. Except, it was updated. It was his school picture from this year, staring at him with the corny smile Richie always sported. If the poster was here, then that means…

Richie dropped the paper and ran towards the nearest garbage can set up to stop littering, pushing his head in as he vomited everything in his stomach. Then he stayed there for a second, before pulling himself out. Running a shaky hand through his hair, Richie moved towards the nearest phone booth, ignoring the woman asking him if he was alright. Putting the few quarters meant for the arcade, Richie called the number robotically.

“Kaspbrak residence.”

“Eddie…” Richie breathed out, rubbing the tears running down his face.

“Richie? Richie what’s wrong?”

“It.”

“What? Richie what do you mean?”

“It’s back, Eddie, It’s back and It’s in Hawkins.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, can you guess who the keys are?
> 
> also richie finally called the losers
> 
> anyway i hoped you enjoyed this chapter!!


	5. Living Objects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The remaining Losers talk and Jane makes some discoveries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am not dead
> 
> it chapter two was fucking amazing like holy shit
> 
> before i saw it, i told myself to not have it influence this fic, however, there is scenes and character development that i just feel weird excluding.
> 
> so, from this chapter on, watch out for some spoilers for it chapter two. it will only spoil the flashbacks and some character development, plus a scene with bev
> 
> please keep that in mind. this chapter will not have anything big (minus a reference) but the next chapter will
> 
> anyway, i hope you enjoy this chapter!!

1

“It’s back? Richie, what do you mean it’s back?” Eddie said, keeping his voice down. His mom was in the other room, and while she was asleep, Eddie knew she could wake up the moment he made himself seem distressed.

“I mean It’s here, in Hawkins, and it knows I’m here, Eddie, it knows I’m here!” Richie yelled, sounding hysterical.

“Richie, calm down and tell me what happened.” If he hadn’t quit four years ago, Eddie would be sucking in all the stupid battery acid his inhaler made.

“I was out at the movie theater,” Richie started, “And I saw a piece of paper on the car I’m driving, and it was the missing poster!”

“Like the one from Niebolt?” Eddie remembered the poster. He remembered that being the first time he saw Richie legitimately scared. He remembers feeling useless. Like right now. Eddie can’t be there at this moment to comfort Richie. Eddie curses everything that is listening, especially that damn clown.

“Yes! The only difference was that it was me now, not years ago. Eddie there’s kids missing, too.” Eddie could hear Richie’s voice crack, and Eddie’s heart broke.

“Hey, Chee, don’t worry. I’ll call the rest of the Losers, and you go back to your place, safe. Okay?” Eddie needed this as much as Richie probably needed it. He needed to know that Richie was safe and sound.

“Okay…” They sat in silence for a few moments. “Hey, Eds?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell Mrs. K I miss her…” Eddie could basically see the shit eating grin on Richie’s face and smiled despite himself.

“Beep beep, Trashmouth.” They both laughed, before silence encased them.

“Hey Eds,” Richie finally said.

“Yes, Richie?”

“Please hurry up, I don’t want to be here by myself.”

“We’ll be there, Chee...don’t worry.”

“...I have to go, Eds, I need to go back to the Wheelers.”

“Okay, Richie.” Eddie smiles softly. “I need to call the Losers.”

“I love you, Eds.”

“I love you too, Chee.” Eddie hangs up the phone, before groaning.

“Great.” He picks up the phone, dialing Bill’s number.

“Bill Denbrough,” Bill says once the phone is picked up.

“Bill,” Eddie says, “We need to meet at the barrens, now.”

“E-Eddie? Wuh-what happened?”

“It’s easier to say in person, but let me tell you it’s not good.”

“I’ll get St-Stan, he stayed over last nuh-night.”

“Okay. See you soon, Billy.”

“Bye, Euh-Eddie.” Eddie hangs the phone up. Two down, two to go. The other calls go basically the same, with Eddie holding off calling Bev due to not knowing the plan. Then he rides to the barrens, going as fast as possible. Eddie secretly knew he was taking out his stress on the pedals, pressing his fear and anger down harder and harder and _ harder _.

He was the last to arrive, the remaining Losers sitting on the rocks placed in a circle. Eddie threw his bike down, panting as he ran up to the circle.

“Eddie, what’s up?” Mike asks, face showing concern.

“It’s- it’s- fuck!” Eddie groans, throwing his hands up.

“It’s what?” Ben asks, leaning in closer.

“It’s back.” Eddie spit out, and watches the Loser’s faces twist in a mix between horror and confusion.

“Wuh-wuh-what do you muh-mean It’s bah-back?”

“I mean It, Bill! It is back!”

“But I haven’t seen any missing posters! No kids are missing!” Mike says, standing up as he searched Eddie’s face for any indication that he was lying.

“It’s not here,” Eddie says, crossing his arms as he tapped his foot up and down, “It’s in Hawkins.”

“Hawkins? Like where Richie is?” Ben questions, curling in towards himself. 

“He’s the one who called me.”

“How do we know Richie’s not just pulling our leg?” Stan asks, his face pale as his voice trembled.

“He saw the missing poster, Stan.” Eddie sighed.

“What missing poster?” Ben asked, speaking for both Mike and Stan.

“The one Ruh-Richie sa-saw in Neibolt, duh-didn’t he teh-tell you?” Bill asked, and the three shook their heads no.

“To be far, no ones talked about that summer,” Mike says. It’s true, no one has talked about the summer. They all tried to pretend it hasn’t happened. Apparently they can’t do that now.

“Anyway, we need to go to Hawkins. Richie was freaked out and we don’t know why It’s in Hawkins, not Derry.” Eddie says, steering the conversation back to its original purpose. To get the Loser’s back together to go to Hawkins and kill this fucking clown.

“Guys, it doesn’t make sense, I mean this has to be a ploy for Richie just to get us to visit him.” Stan says, and Eddie can see his hands shaking. Stan processed It the worst, they all knew that. Hopefully killing It once and for all will help bring closure. Still, Eddie wants to scream at him. Scream at Stan for not accepting this strange reality. Scream at him for accusing Richie of ever joking about this. Just scream for the sake of screaming.

“You didn’t hear his voice, Stan,” Eddie says instead, keeping his voice calm, “It was full of fear.”

“Plu-plus would Richie reh-reh-really joke ah-about tuh-this?” Bill asks, his voice also calm but with a strange edge to it. He was scared, too. Stan looked between Eddie and Bill before looking down.

“I don’t know…”

“Who’s in for going to Hawkins?” Eddie says, putting his hand out in the middle of the circle, “Because I’m going with or without you all, though I would _ love _ it if you guys went as well.”

“I’m in.” Bill stands, placing his hand on Eddie’s.

“Me too.” Ben stands as well, placing his hand on the other two.

“I want to get out of Derry anyway, though I always imagined going to Florida instead,” Mike jokes, placing his hand in the pile. They all turn to Stan, who’s shifting on his feet. He looks at them, before placing his hand down the top of the pile. They smile, before shifting the hand pile into a group hug. They stayed like that for a while, before Eddie pulled away.

“Okay, we need to pack, and bring supplies. And somehow sneak away from our parents.”

  
“That wuh-won’t be hah-hard for m-me…” Bill said, his voice harsh. Mike patted his back in comfort, and Bill smiled slightly at him.

“I meant that more for me…” Eddie sighs, “Whatever, I’ll find something out.”

“What about Bev?” Ben asks, “She has to know, right?”

“You want to call her, Ben?” Mike asks, smirking slightly. Ben blushes, looking away.

“Well, I can?” Ben smiles shyly, and they all laugh. Beverly and Ben got together a year after Pennywise, and were still going strong. Bill and Bev had been broken up a month after Bev oved, agreeing that they were better friends.

“I can steal my mom’s car,” Stan says, “So we don’t have to take a ugly train.”

“We meet here first thing tomorrow, okay?” Eddie says, and they all nod, “Great. See you guys tomorrow.”

  
Eddie's not going to lie, he _really _didn't need this this summer.

2

“Where do we even begin to find the keys?” Dustin asks, shoving a big bite of pancake in his mouth, “Hawkins’ is bigger than people give it credit for.”

“We don’t even know what the keys look like,” Lucas says, leaning back in his seat.

“What if El just finds them?” Max asks, finishing off her pancakes, and Mike shakes his head.

“Absolutely not.’

“What?” Max narrows her eyes at him. “Why not?”

  
“Remember what happened last time she searched for something about Pennywise? I don’t want that to happen again.” Mike crossed his arms.

“But it could make this search so much easier!” 

“But the Spider thing could kill her!” Mike yells, gesturing to Jane. 

“Not if she’s not looking for it!” Max yells. Dustin and Lucas look at each other in exasperation, with Will sighing. Jane just furrows her eyebrows, looking between the two of them.

  
“What if it’s looking for her!” Mike shoots back

  
“I get it.” Max gives a mock laugh. “You’re just trying to control El, aren’t you?”

“_ What! _ ” Mike abruptly up, sending his chair back. “No! Why would I do that? _ Why _ would I do that!”

“It sounds to me that you are.” Max stands up as well, leaning over the table as she pointed a finger at his chest. 

“Well I’m not! What are you, stupid?”

  
“What are you, an asshole?”

  
“Guys!” Jane snaps, jumping up from her seat, placing a hand on Mike’s arm, “Stop it! I can choose to search for the keys myself, and I don’t need either of you to give input!” Mike and Max glare at each other before they pull away.

“Good.” Jane nods, before turning towards Will, “Blindfold, please.” Will nods, running off into his room. Joyce and the teens run in, looking confused.

“I thought I heard yelling?” Joyce asks, looking at Mike and Max’s red faces and Jane’s hand on Mike’s arm.

“They stopped,” Lucas says, and Will runs in with the blindfold. Jane grabs, wrapping it around her eyes.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Nancy asks, looking as Jane switching channels on the radio till it reached static.

“El’s looking for the keys,” Dustin explains, and Jonathan sighs.

“Why didn’t we think of that before…” That was the last thing Jane heard before opening her eyes to the void.

“The Key of Heart…” Jane mutters, walking around the pitch black. Then, a scene appeared. It was a teen on a bed? Couch? He was laying on his back, an arm over his eyes with big, ugly glasses in his hand. Jane approached slowly, watching the teen mutter under his breath. The closer Jane got, the more recognizable the couch-bed hybrid got. It was the couch in Mike’s basement. But why was this teen here? Mike doesn’t have a brother.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” The teen chanted. Jane noticed he was shaking, and she stepped closer. Only to jump back when the teen’s head popped up from, staring directly at her. Jane can’t help but notice that he looks like Mike, just older with shaggier hair. He puts the glasses on his sheet white face, making his eyes bigger. He was still staring directly at her.

“Okay,” The teen says, sitting up slowly, eyes still trained on her, “I know you’re here, you clown fucker.” Jane furrows her eyebrows.

“Clown fucker?” She whispers, and the teen just stares at her, eyes wide as he backs away slowly.

“Come out of hiding, asshole! I know you’re there!” The teen yells again, and Jane realizes he’s talking about the Spider. Her eyes widen as something clicks in her mind. Then, she lowers her blindfold, being met with concerned and questioning eyes. Joyce hands her a tissue, and Jane wipes the blood from her nose.

“I think I found the key.” Jane finally says, placing the tissue down on the table.

“Really? Where?” Steve asks, looking between Nancy and Jonathan before looking at Jane.

“In Mike’s basement.”

  
“What?” Mike’s face scrunches up in confusion, “Why is the key in my basement?”

“How is it in our basement?” Nancy’s face doesn’t look much different, her arms crossed.

“The key is not an object like we thought…” Jane starts, and Will’s eyes widen.

  
“...It’s a person.” Will says with Jane. They look at each other, nodding.

“What?” Lucas asks, leaning forward, “The key is not an object, but a person?” Jane nods.

  
“But wait!” Max says, “The only person in Mike’s basement is…”

  
“Richie.” The Party says at the same time, like a light bulb just turning on.

  
“No!” Mike stands, causing Jane to move back. “No! _ No! _ How can the key be Richie? _ How _ can the key be Richie?”

“I agree with Mike,” Nancy says, “We don’t know if Richie is the key.”

  
“No, he’s definitely the key.” Will says, clasping his hands together as he leans his elbows on his knees.

  
“What do you mean, sweetie?” Joyce asks.

  
“When I first met him, I got a weird feeling off him.” Will looks at each of them. “Like the feeling I had earlier, only not murderous, just...mystic.” Will nods. “...Yeah, mystic.”

  
“Maybe that was just his ugly clothes.” Mike snorts, but there was no humor in his voice.

  
“I mean he’s not wrong...” Lucas mutters.

“That’s not the point!” Will groans, before turning back to Mike, “Mike, come on!”

  
“I’m just saying, how can Richie be the ‘heart’? I doubt he has one anyway!” Mike throws his hands up, before crossing them again with a huff.

“Mike, it makes sense…” Nancy speaks up, “’Closer than we think’, if he’s the key, then he is closer than we think.”

“What about the other keys?” Steve asks, leaning over the recliner, “Where are they?”

“That’s a good question, actually,” Dustin says, and Steve glares at him.

“Actually?” Dustin just laughs nervously, and Steve grumbles, looking away.

  
“Maybe Richie’s friends?” Max asks.

  
“He has friends?” Mike retorts, and Lucas laughs before Max elbows him.

  
“Surprisingly, yes,” Nancy says.

“I still don’t believe it.”

  
“It’s worth a shot,” Jonathan says, placing his hands in his pockets.

  
“We don’t have much to go off, Mike,” Nancy says, looking at Mike who is glaring ahead.

  
“Mike please?” Jane places a hand on his shoulder, causing Mike to look at her. Finally, he sighs.

  
“...Fine.”

  
“Great.” Nancy claps, before pulling her keys out of her pocket. “Let’s go.”

  
“Go?” Mike groans, “Go where?”

  
“To get Richie.” Nancy says and Mike looks at her like she’s insane.

“Really?”

  
“Mike, come on.” Nancy gave him a look that screams ‘That’s that, you listen to me,” and she walked out of the house. Mike groaned, storming off after her. The others sit in silence as they hear the car leave the driveway.

  
“I’ll call Hop and let him know we got the Key.” And with that, Joyce leaves towards the kitchen.

Jane looks around at everyone, and she wonders if life will ever be easy.

3

Richie looked around the basement, bat (which he found under the stairs) held firmly at his side. The strange feeling was gone, but Richie’s paranoia was not. He knew when he was being watched, and he did not like it one bit. However, he searched every square inch of the basement, so where the fuck was It?

  
The door suddenly slammed opened, and Richie yelped, turning around, bat up ready to swing. Instead, he was met with the forms of his two cousins, and Richie sighed in relief.

“Jesus, you two nearly scared my hair off!” The two looked at him, then at the bat, then back to each other, before facing him again.

“Why do you have a bat?” Nancy asks, her eyebrows furrowed. Richie looks at the bat, and nervously laughs.

“Practicing for tryouts,” Richie lies, “Why are you two coming down like a pact of wild animals?”

  
“We just have a question,” Nancy says, and Richie can tell she’s nervous.

“Shoot.”

  
“Um,” Nancy looks at Mike, who shrugs. Nancy groans, before spitting out words Richie wishes wasn’t said. Words that changed his summer (even though his summer was already going fucking _ terrific. _)

“Do you know Pennywise the Dancing Clown?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh,, shit,,
> 
> i was actually going to add an extra scene, but to me it ruined flow. so it'll be in a later chapter.
> 
> most of this went differently than planned, not gonna lie. but i like it so im not complaining.
> 
> i actually have a plot bunny inspired by chapter two so maybe that'll come soon maybe it wont, who knows (me, jk i dont)
> 
> in case you haven't please read the first note


	6. The Losers' Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie talks and new people enter Hawkins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello!!
> 
> i know i was really evil for that cliffhanger last chapter but it was oh so worth it
> 
> i have two things to say however!!
> 
> 1) SPOILERS FOR IT CHAPTER TWO!! I CANNOT EXPRESS THAT ANY LOUDER!! From this point on, there will be spoilers for it chapter two!! specifically the flashbacks and character development that i feel weird ignoring!! please remember this!!
> 
> 2) As much as I love yalls comments, please please please don't comment rushing me for an update!! it only makes me stress over it and makes writing this fic feel like chore more than something im having fun with and i dont want that!! but please keep up with the comments!! it makes my day reading yalls comments and i love responding!!
> 
> anyway thats all, and i want to say i love you guys and hope you enjoy this chapter!!

1

Richie sat on an unfamiliar ouch of an unfamiliar house with unfamiliar eyes staring at him. Eleven pairs of eyes, he counted. Each had a different emotion dancing in them. Richie only recognized eight of the eleven, and that somehow made it worse to actually speak to them all.

Staring at his cousins, Richie looks back on the goddamn conversation that got him in this position in the first place.

_ “Do you know Pennywise the Dancing Clown?” _

_ Richie felt his face turn stark white at the mere mention of the dreaded name, not unlike the clown’s own. Only there wasn’t any blood red accessories decorating his face. Nor was there an evil menace hidden behind knowing eyes and a wet smile, too wide for a normal clown. _

_ That clown. That damned clown. _

_ Logically, Richie knew that the clown was back. Hell, he had fucking called the Eddie because of the clown. But to have his own cousins, ones who had no way of knowing the horror that went down that summer, asking him? He wasn’t prepared. _

_ Nancy was staring at him, waiting for an answer. Mike was tapping his foot behind her, arms crossed, looking like he would rather be anywhere but here. _

_ “Answer the goddamn question,” Mike finally spoke up, “do you know Pennywise or no—“ _

_ “How do you know that name?” Richie was trying hard to keep his composure, he just wanted to get up and start screaming. _

_ “So you do know Pennywise?” Nancy asked. _

_ “I said,” Richie grit his teeth, “How do you know that _ goddamn _ name?” Both of the Wheelers were a little taken aback by his aggressive words, Richie could tell. But right now, he didn’t care. _

_ “We...” Nancy swallowed. “We need you to come with us.” _

_ “No.” _

_ “No? Why the hell not!” Mike yelled, throwing his hands up. _

_ “Because this could be a fucking trick!” Richie yelled back, glaring at the two. “This could be a fucking mind trick from Bozo the Dumbass Clown and I refuse to fall It’s tricks!” _

_ “This isn’t a trick, you dumbass,” Mike yells, “We need you to come with us so we can just finish this damn clown.” _

_ “How do you know It’s here, huh?” Richie says, getting close to Mike’s face, “How do you even know of It’s existence?” _

_ “We can’t tell you here,” Nancy says, looking up the stairs, “We need to get to the Byers, Richie. Just come with us.” Richie looked at the both of them, gripping the bat tighter. _

_ “Fine. I’ll play along,” Richie said, marching up the stairs, “But don’t think for a second that I’ll trust you two. And I keep the bat.” _

A terrible car ride later, and here he was, about to be fucking interrogated by his fucking cousins, a bunch of middle schoolers, two teens he doesn’t know, a woman who probably could kill him if provoked, and a cop who hates him.

Yippee.

“Of course it’s you,” Hopper said once Richie walked in, and Richie only smiled.

Richie wasn’t smiling now.

“Okay, kid, we’re going to keep this simple,” Hopper says, eyes staring straight through him, “What do you know about the clown?”

“Why should I tell you guys?” Richie says instead, “I haven’t even gotten a reason on why I’m here, with some people I don’t even know! So why should I tell you anything, officer?” Hopper snarled, and Joyce grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

“Richie, stop being an asswipe and answer!” Mike snapped and Richie glares at him.

“I’m asking valid fucking questions here! You tell me you know something you shouldn’t and I want to know how you guys know, and suddenly it’s all ‘Answer the question and don’t be confused on how people you barely know are asking you about the source of your childhood trauma!’ Who fucking cares how I feel! Nope, because I’m the bad guy here, who won’t answer questions! Go ahead and sue me! Sue me for wanting to know something!” Richie’s voice raises as he spoke, going from normal to full on yelling. Seeing the looks on their faces, Richie realizes that they are looking at him with eyes of concern, not anger. Even Mike had a different look in his eye. Then Richie feels the damp of his cheeks and realizes he started crying halfway through his rant.

“Fuck…” Richie groans, lifting his glasses up as he wiped his tears.

“Richie…” Joyce says, moving to his side, “We don’t want to pressure you into anything, we just want to know what you know, and how you can help us defeat the clown.” Richie looks down, and sighs.

“We should be fine, the Losers are on the way.”

“The Losers?” Lucas asks, “Who are the Losers?”

“The Losers’ Club, me and my pals from Derry,” Richie smiles, “The original clown killers.”

“The Keys…” Will mutters, looking at a girl he doesn’t recognize who nods.

“Wait, I’m sorry, who the fuck are you three?” Richie asks, gesturing between the three who he had never met. Dustin points at each of them. Steve, Jonathan, and El are the newcomers, and Richie nods.

“So, Stevie, Long Jon, and Ellie?” They groan (Minus Ellie who just looks confused), and Richie smiles. He can do this, not emotional yucky stuff.

“Really?” Stevie asks, and Richie gives his signature shit eating grin.

“More where that came from, baby.” Richie winks, and Steve sighs.

“He won’t stop, trust me,” Mike says, and Richie laughs.

“Shouldn’t we get back on track?” Nancy asks, “We should find out about this clown.”

“Boo, No-Fun Nancy!” Richie laughs, and Nancy glared at him.

“Can we?” Hopper asks, voice no room for arguments. “Great.”

“Jeez, Cop Hop, who shoved the stick up your ass?” Hopper just glares as Ellie giggles a bit. “Fine, let’s play a game. I answer a question if I can ask one back.” The group just looked at each other before Hopper sighed.

“Fine, we’ll do it your way, kid.”

“Perfect! Pip-pip and tally-o, good fellows!” Richie clapped with a forced grin, “Onwards with the first question!”

“What is Pennywise?”

“Well, It’s not a clown, I’ll tell you that,” Richie says, “I’m pretty sure It’s a demonic shapeshifter that knows your fears and preys on kids, though take that with a grain of salt. Anyway, how did you fuckers find out that I knew It?” The group looked at each other, before Ellie stepped forward.

“Me.”

“You? I haven’t even met you before, darling.” Richie leaned in, curious about what this girl did to find out one of his best kept secrets (Is it really a secret when everyone he’s close with knows?).

“I have powers,” Ellie says, and Richie blinks once. Twice. Then he laughs. The group in front of him looks taken aback, but Richie doesn’t care. He just laughs.

“Of course! Why not at this point!” Richie says as he calms down a bit, giggles still coming out.

“Jesus Christ, he’s insane…” Mike mutters, and Richie can feel he wasn’t meant to hear.

“Ellie, is this true, do you really have powers?” Richie looks at her, and she nods. “Prove it.”

  
“Like hell she has to prove anything to you!” Mike steps next to her side, and Richie raises an eyebrow.

“Then I don’t believe it,” Richie says, crossing his arms. Mike opens his mouth to say something else, but then Richie’s vision goes blurry. He goes to push up his glasses only to find that they’re not there anymore.

“What the fuck?” Richie asks, looking around for his glasses, only for them to fall on his face. Richie looks up to see Ellie wiping her nose with a tissue, specks of red visible on the pure white object. Richie can only stare as she smiles at him.

“Believe it now?” Ellie asks, and all Richie can do is nod, millions of questions running through his mind.

“Next question, kid,” Hopper says, getting the conversation back on track, “How do you know Pennywise?” Richie looks at Hopper and then sighs, looking down at his hands.

“Let’s say that I had a really shitty summer four years ago.” Richie looks up, rubbing his hands on his jeans. “My turn.” Richie points at Ellie. “What the fuck is up with her?”

  
“What do you mean?” Mike asks, standing in front of Ellie who just looked confused.

“Like the powers bullshit!”

“I was born with them…” Ellie steps in front of Mike who looks like he’s about to protest but one smack from a nearby Nancy shuts him up. “I was experimented on in the lab nearby until three years ago.” She pulls up her sleeve, which shows a tattooed 011 on her wrist. Richie hums, looking at the tattoo.

  
“Makes sense, I guess.” Richie mutters.

“Our question,” Nancy says quickly, “Who are the other losers?”

  
“Other losers?” Nancy nods, and Richie smiles. “Finally, a good fucking topic. What can I say about them. The other losers are best, ragtag group of friends a young lad like me could have. It’s just the seven of us―me, Big Bill, Stan the Man, Bev, Ben, Mike, and Eds.”

“Aw shit,” Dustin groans, earning the attention of everyone present.

“What?” Steve asks, looking both confused and alarmed.

“There’s going to be two Mikes…” Steve just glares at him.

"That's what you're worried about?" Dustin raises his hands in defense.

"It's going to be a problem!"

“That’s an easy fix, though!” Richie says, grin on his face, “Derry Mike is Mike, and Hawkins Mike is Mikey!”

  
“Absolutely not,” Mike says, as Ellie giggles next to him.

“Just Mike?”

“No!”

“...Michael Myers?”

“Mike!” Mike groans. “Your Mike can be something else, but we’re in Hawkins! My town!”

“We’ll find out when we get there,” Hopper said, cutting the argument short, “Do we have anymore questions?” No one says anything and Hopper nods. “Good.”

“Hey, Richie,” Joyce says, and Richie hums as he turns to her, “Want any pancakes?”

“Don’t mind if I do, Miss J.” Joyce smiles and leads him to the kitchen.

Richie sighs. The Losers better be here soon.

2

They’ve been on the road for three hours, and the car was full of silence.

Eddie doesn’t know whether it’s the reason of the car ride, or the fact that Richie wasn’t in the car with them. The radio wasn’t even on. It was just silent.

They left as soon as they could (Eddie had to leave early in the morning, around four, so his mom wouldn’t stop him. God knows his face will be on a milk carton when they get home.) and picked Bev up an hour later. Sense then, they’ve been stuck in a silence that Eddie didn’t know if he wanted to fill.

“This is bullshit,” Bev finally says from her spot next to Ben.

“What?” Mike says, turning in his seat to face her.

“This whole situation!” Bev says, and she sighs, “Why is It in Hawkins?”

“We d-don’t know,” Bill says, staring straight ahead, “No one kn-knows…” Eddie bites his lip, looking out the window. There was a question that was on his mind since yesterday.

“Why don’t we talk about that summer…” Eddie says, turning all the attention to him.

“What do you mean?” Ben asks.

“Like.” Eddie shifts in his seat, pulling his legs up. “Besides brief mentions, we don’t ever say what personally happened to us.”

“Are you saying we should?” Mike asks.

“If we’re meeting this fucker again, I think we should.”

“You guys know what happened with the blood,” Bev says, leaning against Ben, “It just basically bursted out of the sink, and covered the whole bathroom.”

“A headless boy chased me in the library…” Ben mutters, “Then, I saw It again.”

“What’d you see?” Bev asks, turning her head up to face him.

“I saw you…” Ben says. “You were mocking me, and then you lit on fire, and chased me around the school. I hide in the locker, and then It came out and said I would die alone because no one liked the...” Ben swallowed. “...liked the fat kid…”

“Oh, Ben…” Bev snuggles closer to him.

“I mean, I know that’s not true now, but that was after the fight.”

“The fucking fight…” Stan says for the first time since the car started.

“I saw hands, like charred hands,” Mike says, looking down at his own, “And voices screaming my name...then I heard the sounds of sheep. Then Henry Bowers tried to run me over with his car, so I guess that just adds the cherry on top.” They all let out small laughs at that, before falling into silence.

“You g-guys know I sa-saw Guh-Georgie,” Bill breaks the silence, “He just...st-st-started decaying ruh-right in fr-front of me...saying I wuh-wuh-would f-float too…”

“I heard my mom in the basement of the pharmacy and she was strapped up, begging for me to free her.” Eddie grips his knees. “Then the leper came and just fucking stuck his tongue in her mouth and I booked it.”

“Stan?” Mike looks at Stan, who’s gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. Stan lets put a shaky breath.

“The woman in the painting,” He starts, “She just came out and scared me. That’s all.”

“Do we know anything about Richie?” Bev asks, and Eddie shakes his head.

“All I know is that he saw a missing poster and refuses to go to the City Center. Says the Paul Bunyan statue is ugly as fuck.”

“He sa-saw something in N-Neibolt, I duh-don’t know wuh-what…” Bill mutters.

“We can always ask him,” Mike says, looking out the window, “Hey, turn on the radio. Maybe we can find something good.” Stan turned on the radio, and they all grinned at the song that came on.

“Oh girls just want to have fun!” They scream the lyrics and laugh, and Eddie feels better than he has since Richie left.

3

Mike was on the couch, sighing. They were staying the night at the Byers (Hopper’s orders) and dinner was being made. Joyce, Nancy, and Steve were all in the kitchen making dinner, with Richie’s voice coming from his spot on the counter.

The couch indents, and Mike looks over to see Jane next to him. He immediately smiles.

“Hey, El.”

“Hi, Mike.” She smiles back, and Mike feels the butterflies in his stomach dance around. He loves that feeling, the feeling reserved for Jane and Jane only.

“What’s up?” Mike says, turning to his body towards her.

“You were sighing,” Jane says, “What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“About what Richie said.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if Pennywise really knows our fears or not,” Mike says, and sighs. Jane gives him a weird look, her eyebrows furrowed. Like she was looking a word she didn’t know.

“Mike?” He hums. “What’s your fear?”

“My fear?” Jane nods. “It’s, uh, it’s losing you…”

“Losing me?”

“Yeah, I know it’s stupid but.” Mike looked Jane right in the eyes. “I can’t lose you again, El, I can’t. That year of me not knowing if you were dead or not, I just can’t go through that again.” Jane just stared at him for a while, before she looked away.

“Me too.” Mike furrowed his eyebrows.

“What do you mean?”

  
“I mean.” Jane looks back at him, and Mike just kind of freezes. God, Jane just has that effect on him, and Mike loves every second of it. “I’m scared to lose you, too, Mike.”

“What about Brenner?” Mike asks, more confused, “Isn’t he what Pennywise showed you?”

“Brenner can suck my ass, Mike,” Jane says, grabbing his hand, “I can’t lose you again. Ever.” Mike can’t help the smile that overcomes his face, and he just leans in, connecting their lips. Mike once overheard one of his mom’s friends saying that she was bored of kissing one man, as it was always the same and “she knew all his tricks” (What even are the tricks in kissing? Biting? Tongue? Teeth?). Mike thinks it's all bullshit. Kissing Jane never got boring. Every kiss marks a promise to Mike. A promise to stay around, to never leave.

It’s one of the easiest promises that Mike has ever given.

Jane finally pulls away, and lets out a few giggles that Mike can’t help reciprocate. God, he loves her, and he hopes his eyes say it because he sure as hell doesn’t want to ruin the moment.

Turns out his efforts were in vain, as the sound of someone clearing their throat pops the bubble that surrounded just the two of them. Mike and Jane both look up to see a smirking Richie staring back at them.

“What do you want?” Mike says, a bite to his voice that seemed to come out the longer that Richie was around. Richie just crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe.

“I just came to get you guys for dinner, but I guess you two are already chowing down out here.” Mike flips him off, and Richie throws his hands up in surrender. Jane turns back to Mike, confusion on her face.

“Chowing down?” She asks, and Mike can feel his face heat up. Richie, the bastard, just laughs before moving back in the kitchen.

“I’ll tell you later!” Mike stands, pulling Jane up with him. “Let’s just eat dinner now, okay?”

“Okay.” Jane nods, and she goes to the kitchen, pulling Mike with her.

Mike smiles. God, he can’t lose her again.

4

The Losers arrive in Hawkins around 9 the next morning, and feel the air chill, despite the summer weather.

“Richie said the town had a bad vibe,” Bev muttered once they passed the ‘Welcome to Hawkins!’ sign, “I get it now.”

They had been on the road for around 19 hours (minus the rest stops and that one stop at the dinner that took around an hour) and only stopped longer than an hour to get some rest on the side of the road. No one really slept, but it was the thought that counts.

Now, they’re in Hawkins and Eddie feels sick.

He can’t really pinpoint the reason why, as it could be the reason of multiple factors. Was it the vibe of the town? The fact Pennywise was back? Him seeing Richie again? The weird food from yesterday? All Eddie knows is that he feels sick and can’t wait to leave this place.

“Does anyone have the address?” Stan asks, and Eddie nods.

“635 Maple Street.” The rest of the ride is in relative silence, before they pull up to a two story house. The moment the car stops, Eddie jumps out, the rest of the Losers right behind him. Reaching the doorbell, Eddie rings it a few times, and taps his foot impatiently. A few seconds pass and Eddie rings the doorbell again, before pounding on the door. He’s about to raise his fist again when the door opens to a young woman staring at them.

“Can I help you?” She asks, and Eddie coughs, slightly embarrassed.

“Uh, yes, we’re Richie’s friends, and we came up to see him!” The woman’s face lights up.

“Richie’s friends, huh!” They nod. “You must have drove a long way to get here, huh?” They nodded again. “Well, I’m sorry but Richie’s out right now.”

“F-Fuck…” Bill mutters under his breath.

“You kids can come in, though! I’m Karen, by the way!” Karen moves out of the way, and Bev smiles at her.

“Don’t worry, we wanted to see around the town anyway, so we’ll check in later when Richie’s back. Thank you though!” Karen blinks, and smiles―albeit faker―at them. 

“Okay, then! It’s nice to meet you all, especially you, Bev.” Karen winks, before closing the door. Bev furrows her eyebrows.

“What does that mean?”

  
“It doesn’t matter what it means,” Eddie snarls, already halfway across the yard, “Richie isn’t fucking here!”

  
“Where would he be anyway?” Ben asks, and Stan turns towards the car.

“Well if we knew that, we would be with him right now, wouldn’t we, Benjamin!” Eddie snaps, and Ben raises his arms in surrender.

“Guys…” Stan says, quieting the fight, “Look at this…” The Losers crowd around Stan, and look as he holds up a missing poster. Eddie swears.

“It…” Bev mutters, and her eyes widen, “Wait! There’s something on the back!” Stan flips the paper over, only to see a note in blood.

**RICHIE TOZIER’S ALL DEAD SHOW!**

**SO GOOD YOU’LL FLOAT TOO!**

**COME JOIN HIM IN THE DEADLIGHTS, AND YOU’LL FLOAT TOO!**

“‘Join him in the deadlights?’” Eddie says, and he knows he sounds a little hysterical, “What does that mean?”

“That’s the thing It showed me when It captured me…” Bev whimpered, and Ben wrapped an arm around her.

“Does that mean It has Richie?” Stan ask, hands shaking, and Eddie wants to vomit.

“No.” They all turn to Bill, who takes the paper from Stan, before ripping it up. “This is lying.”

  
“How do you know?” Mike asks, and Bill throws the shreds of paper on the group.

“I don’t know how, b-but I can feel it…” Bill places a hand on his heart, before holding the hand out. “Keys.” Stan places the keys in his hands, and Bill climbs into the car.

“Let’s go get our Trashmouth.”

5

Richie stares at the ceiling of the Byers living room, taking in every stain―even if they looked like weird blurry blobs without his glasses. Few people were still asleep from the impromptu sleepover, and there was already sounds filling the house. Richie knew he was probably the only one still “asleep”, but he couldn’t bring himself to sit up. So he just sits, staring at weird blobs as Lucas and Dustin argue over Nutella.

Then, Richie feels a tug at his heart, and he rolls on the floor, causing a big thud and few yelps from the kitchen. Thumbling for his glasses, Richie sits up as he stares at the door.

“Richie?” Joyce asks, running in, more people following in after her. Richie looks at her, and runs a hand through his hair.

“They’re here.” Was all Richie said before there was a pounding on the door. Hopper―who’s the closest to the door―looks at everyone in the room, before opening it.

There, in the doorway looking like straight badasses, were the Losers’ Club.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another cliffhanger??? me??? no really??
> 
> anyway, i love writing the different relationships, like mileven's puppy love and and reddie's old married couple act. its super fun to explore what i can do with them
> 
> this chapter was both fun and painful to write, so i hope it goes smoother from here on out. i still have to plan a bit for chapter seven and beyond, so those may take a bit of time to write!!
> 
> incase you didn't please read the first note, and thank you for sticking around!!


	7. The Seven Keys (I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Losers reunite and stories are told.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit this took forever to write
> 
> but yeah, im back baby B)
> 
> thank you guys so much for your kind words and holy shit that always makes my day. i try to respond to every comment so if you want to discuss something just comment!!
> 
> this chapter seems shorter than others and i hope its good.

1

“Fuckers…” Richie says, and the Losers at the door smile, breaking their tense faces. Bev runs up to him, and nearly knocks him over with a hug.

“You bitch,” She mumbled into his shoulder, “It’s been way too long!”

“Too long indeed, Bev,” Richie mutters, hugging her tighter. They moved away from each other, and Bill clapped a hand on his back.

“What’s uh-up, Four-Eyes?”

“Nothing much, Stutter-Mouth,” Richie shoots back, before pulling Bill into a hug, “Man, I missed your stutter, Big Bill.”

“I missed you t-too, Trashmouth.” They pulled away and Ben moved up next to them.

“Haystack! I missed your musk, man!” Richie said, slapping a hand on his back.

“I missed you too, Richie,” Ben said back.

“We missed you, asshole,” Mike pipes up and Richie’s smile gets bigger.

“Howdy there, Cowboy!” Richie mimes throwing a lasso, and Mike bats it away, giving Richie a hug. Richie laughs, hugging him back.

“I, for one, can say I didn’t miss you,” Stan says, and Richie gasps, before throwing an arm over his shoulder.

“Stan the Man Uris! How’s the birds? Still fucking them?”

“The birds are fine, unlike you if you continue speaking,” Stan quips back, and Richie laughs.

“Feisty, just like I like it.” Stan rolls his eyes, and Richie laughs harder before seeing the final figure in the doorway.

“Eds…” Was all Richie got out before Eddie barrels into him, stuffing his face into Richie’s chest as he clings to his waist.

“You asshole!” Eddie’s voice is muffled by Richie’s chest, and Richie places a hand on Eddie’s head.

“How am I an asshole?” Eddie looks up, and there are the beginnings of tears masking his beautiful eyes.

“I thought the fucking clown got you, Rich.”

“I’m right here, Eds…”

“Don’t fucking call me that, Dick.” Eddie smiled and Richie couldn’t help, he captured that smile with his own. Eddie melted again him, sighing into the kiss. After a few seconds, they pulled away, smiles still on their faces. The sound of someone clearing their throat broke the moment, and they both looked over to Hopper.

“I’m glad you had your reunion, kid, but who the hell are these people?” Richie blinked before nodding.

“Everybody,” Richie starts, and motions to the losers, “This is Bill, Bev, Ben, Mike, Stan, and Eddie, aka the Loser’s Club!” Richie then motions to the others. “This is everyone else.”

“Two Mikes!” Dustin whisper yells to Steve, who shoves him. Mike (The Derry one) looks up at this and Mike (The Hawkins one―Richie is beginning to see the problem) groans.

“I am _ not _ going by Mikey!” Hawkins Mike yells, and Richie pouts.

“But it’s so cute, Mikey-Wikey!” Richie cooes, and Mike scowls at him.

“Just call me Hanlon,” Derry Mike says, “It’s fine to me.”

  
“Aww, Farm Boy, you’re such an angel, but you shouldn’t have to do that, you’re already the hottest one here!” Richie winks, and Hanlon just shakes his head. Eddie just elbows him in the ribs, and Richie looks down at him.

“Don’t worry, Spaghetti Head,” Richie says, giving Eddie a noogie, “You’re still the cutest.”

  
“Fuck off, asshole!” Eddie smacks his hand away. “Why the fuck are you with them anyway?”

“Yeah, why aren’t you at your aunts?” Bev asks, crossing her arms. Richie sighs, pushing up his glasses, before looking at Nancy.

“Want to answer, Nancy-Pantsy?” She glares at him before turning to the other losers.

“Basically, we found out Pennywise was here and we found out that Richie was one of the keys, so we brought him here to help us defeat Pennywise.” At the mention of the keys, the losers all sported a look of confusion.

“K-Key?” Bill asks, “Wh-What key?”

“You know,” Nancy starts, making unhelpful gestures with her hands, “The Seven Keys?”

“Wait, hold on,” Richie says, hands placed on his hips, “_ I’m _ a key?”

“You seriously didn’t know that?” Mike asks, and Richie scoffs.

“I'm pretty sure I would know if I was a fucking key!”

“You’re the Key of Heart,” Dustin says like its the simplest fucking thing and not giving Richie the biggest hedache right now, “El found that out.” Jane nods, and Richie squints.

“Key of Heart? What the fuck does that mean!” Richie yells, and Mike’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“What do you mean ‘what does it mean’?”

“The Seven Keys for killing the Spider,” Jane says, “Heart, leadership, belief, logic, remembrance, fight, and creativity. That’s what the Turtle said.”

“And I’m the heart?” Richie asks, and Jane nods. Richie swears under his breath.

“But who’s who?” Bev pipes up, looking around the group, “If we’re the keys, who’s who?”

  
“We…” Nancy sighs. “We don’t know yet. The only reason we knew Richie was the heart was because the Turtle said he’s closer than we think.”   


“You keep saying something about a turtle.” Eddie crosses his arms. “What fucking turtle. And spider? There’s a fuckng spider?” Stan shudders a bit at the mention of a spider.

“He contacted me in my dreams,” Jane says, “He said that Pennywise was the Spider and said that there was Seven Keys needed to destroy the Spider.”

  
“You’re the keys!” Dustin finishes with a smile, and Richie groans.

“Great! Just what I needed in my life.” Eddie leans closer to him and Richie wraps a hand around his waist. “It’s not like that turtle guy knows us anyway.”

  
“N-Not true…” Bill mutters and they all turn to him.

“What do you mean?” Stan asks.

“B-Before we fuh-fought It for the la-last time, I had a wuh-weird dream with a g-giant turtle. I don’t re-remember much, b-but maybe that was the T-Turtle.”

“A turtle touched your leg, Richie,” Ben mutters, “At the quarry. Remember?”

“What the fuck…” Richie muttered as Bill looks at Jane.

“Is that t-the turtle y-you’re tah-talking about?” Jane nodded.

“This is insane…” Stan mutters, “You guys know that means we’re ‘chosen ones’, right?”

  
“Like a movie or some shit,” Hanlon agrees.

“I’ve always thought I would be a chosen one, just for my godly good looks,” Richie jokes, causing Eddie to send his elbow flying straight into Richie’s ribs. 

“More like you’ve been chosen to annoy the clown to death,” Eddie quips with a smile on his face, and Richie laughs.

“I’ll go up to that clown and call It a sloppy bitch or something! Throw some rocks for good measure! Maybe call It’s mom ugly!” The Loser’s laughed, and Richie could catch some of the others breaking into a smile. Bev stopped suddenly, and looked around wildly. Richie was about to ask what was wrong before a voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Beep beep, Richie,” The voice of Richie’s―and all the Loser’s―nightmares said. The room seemed to chill, and Richie was reaching for the bat he brought the night before. He grabbed it, but it felt different, silky but grimy. Richie turned only to see a white gloved hand under his own, and his eyes followed the dirtied, grey clothed arm, before they landed on the red smile of nightmares. It saw Richie looking at him, and the smile got bigger, showing off the first row of many sharp teeth. A scream left Richie’s lips and he flew back, causing the clown to laugh a devious laugh. Arms wrapped around him as the clown stood, a pout where It’s smile once was.

“What’s wrong, Richie,” It said, “Didn’t you miss your old friend, Pennywise?” Richie shook in the arms of Eddie, who was chanting ‘Oh shit’ in Richie’s ear.

“Eddie.” It turned his attention to Eddie, who yelled ‘Oh shit’ in Richie’s ear. “Did you take your pills today? You know how delicate you are. You don’t want AIDs, now do you, Eddie Bear?” Eddie’s arms tightened on Richie.

“Ben.” Richie could see Bev take Ben’s hand in the corner of his eye. “It looks like those sit ups paid off, how else could you have gotten your January Embers?” It turned to Hanlon. “Speaking of embers, Mike, how’s your parents? I think they’re still calling for you.” Hanlon clenched his fists, and the clown smiled a ghastly smile.

“Are you still daddy’s little girl, Bevvy?” Beverly whimpers, sending It into laughter. “He’s worried about you, Bevvy. He’s worried a lot.”

“Stanley!” It says to Stan, who Richie just realized was crouching on the floor, head buried in his knees. “How’s the face? Sucks your friends made you go into Neibolt.” Stan’s hands flew to side of his face as the clown laughed harder, before turning towards Bill, who had a rock hard glare.

“Look at you, Billy, all grown up! If only Georgie could grow up as well!” It laughed and Richie buried his face into Eddie’s shoulder. The laugh continued before an axe went for It’s face. The clown was gone before it could hit, and the wood split where the axe striked. The Losers stood there in silence, occasionally broken by whimpers. Jonathan pulled the axe out of the wall, muttering a small ‘shit’.

“What the fuck was that!” Mike yelled, breaking the silence fully. Richie knew the answer, of course. However, Richie could not form the words. The clown was somehow happy they were all together, and that fact left him terrified. Why was It happy they were together, and what did that mean?

“T-That,” Bill starts, looking at the broken figures of his friends. If Richie could see what Bill see, he would see Bev and Ben holding each other, both crying. He would see Mike Hanlon with an arm around a shaking Stan. He would see himself with his head in Eddie’s shoulder and Eddie’s face buried into his curls. Only Bill saw that, however. “That w-was It…”

“That’s great!” Steve says, running a hand through his hair, “That’s fucking _ great! _” Nancy placed a hand on his arm, and Steve swore under his breath.

“You know,” Hopper started, hands on his hips, “It would be _ great _ if we were actually told about what most of that stuff meant, instead of how shitty a summer was four agos.” Richie looked up from the shoulder and flashed a fake smile (a poor attempt to make himself feel better, to convince himself that he’s _ fine _).

“I didn’t lie, did I, officer?” Richie said, and swore he saw a ghost smile on Hopper’s face.

“From what I saw,” Hopper said, “Not at all.”

“Is it fine to tell?” Eddie asks―like the fucking angel he is―and Bill nods.

“Would it help?” Ben asks as he wipes his eyes.

“Anything might help at this point,” Nancy says, and they can’t argue with that.

“If it helps,” Bev mutters, wiping her own tears. Hanlon nods, and then turns to look at Stan, who is frozen minus the quivers shooting through his body.

“Stanny?” Bev asks, and after a few minutes, Stan gives the smallest nod. Bill looks at the Loser’s faces, before turning back to the group in front of them.

“I-It started with a puh-paper boat…” Bill said, and then told the whole story. How he faked being sick and got his brother killed,

(“You didn’t kill him, Bill, you didn’t know what was happening.”) 

How kids went missing and the adults didn’t bat an eye, about how the clown has his claws stuck so far in the town that adults only raise an eyebrow when most of the kids go missing, about Bowers and his goons.

(“He carved an ‘H’ into my stomach, and a car drove by, ignoring us…”)

About the burning hands….

(“They were calling my name, and I was terrified.”)

The headless boy….

(“I, uh, don’t like Easter that much anymore…”)

The woman from the painting….

(“Before you ask, no, she wasn’t hot.”) 

The leper at Neibolt….

(“He asked for a blowjob, but I doubt he could do anything but growl and say ‘Eddie’.”)

The bloody sink….

(“Alvin walked in, and saw nothing. The whole room was covered with blood, and all he could focus on was my haircut…”)

The fake Georgie….

(“He r-rotted...and w-wanted me to fl-float...f-fuck...”)

About the projector, which lead to the trip to Neibolt….

(“I still say we should have measured dicks!”) 

The clown room….

(“A fake me, covered in maggots! I blame that moment on my weak stomach, folks!”)

The three doors and the legless Betty Ripsome, the broken arm and the fight, the month spent alone, the few encounters after that, the eventual kidnapping of Beverly Marsh, the adventure into the sewers, the attack of Henry Bowers.

(“Homeschool over here knocked his down, and god, if he didn’t look like a ping-pong ball!”)

The lady in the painting scarring Stanley….

(“I thought they left me...and that probably hurt more than the teeth…”)

Bev and the deadlights….

(“The deadlights...that is something I would not wish upon my worst enemy…”)

The eventual assbeating Pennywise got, and finally, the oath.

“We killed It,” Bev said, finishing the story, “Or so we thought…”

  
“Life after death?” Nancy suggested weakly, and Richie scoffed.

“Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage.” Mike scowled, sending a glare towards Richie.

“Stop quoting your shitty movies, this is serious.” Richie’s mouth fell open in mock shock, and hand placed on his chest to add to the dramatic flare.

“Excuse me!” Richie said, “_ Clue _ was not a shitty movie! Plus, you knew the quote, didn’t you, Mikey?”

  
“Don’t call me that!” Mike snapped, “And just because I knew the movie doesn’t mean it wasn’t shitty!”

“Tim Curry is a _ legend _in that movie!”

“I don’t give a shit about Tim Curry.”

  
“How dare you. How can I call you my cousin?”

“Shitheads!” Max yells over the bickering, “We need to focus here!” Mike flipped Richie off, and Richie returned the favor. A smack from Eddie stopped the the little glare-off.

“So,” Joyce asks, bringing the conversation back to the original topic, “It lives in the sewers?” The Losers nod.

“So we just need to find places where the sewer ends?” Lucas asks, and the Losers nod again.

“What places do the sewers end though?” Dustin pipes up.

“The quarry, the stream, and of course the bathrooms and storm drains,” Nancy said, counting down on her fingers.

“Well,” Richie sighed, “Let’s find this mother fucking clown.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was a roller coaster and i admit that i had no idea where it was going
> 
> tbh this chapter feels like a filler but like with plot importance?? so i hope yall liked it 
> 
> also you can pry my love of clue out of my cold, dead hands


	8. A Quarry of Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Jane talk, there's a horror at the quarry, and an old foe has a chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall guess whos back!! thats right me bitch!!
> 
> i had alot of fun writing this chapter, and personally think its one of my favorites so i hope its good
> 
> but first, warning!!
> 
> Homophobia!! yes, this is the eighties. which means, the q-slur is also used quite a lot actually. please watch for that!!
> 
> anyway, i love all the kind words, so thank you so much!!
> 
> i hope you enjoy the chapter!!

1

After the notion, everyone decided to split up into groups. Why that was the logical solution, Will doesn’t know. He’s just happy he’s with the Party. They’ve been tasked with the woods. Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve are taking the quarry, the Losers took the stream, and his mom and Hopper went to the sewer works in town. Right now, they were marching through the woods, just past Castle Byers. Mike and Jane were holding hands, and Lucas, Dustin and Max were talking in the back, Will behind them all.

“The Losers Club,” Dustin says, “Why would anyone want to be called the Losers Club?”

“Maybe it’s an inside joke?” Max suggests, and Lucas shrugs.

“I didn’t know Richie was queer,” Mike says from the front, and Will can feel his blood turn to ice, “Maybe that’s why he so weird.”

“Queer?” Jane asks, casting a look at Mike.

“Gay,” Dustin says.

“Gay?” Jane asks again.

“He likes men instead of women,” Dustin says again.

“How?” Jane asks once more.

“I don’t know.” Dustin shrugs.

“Mrs. Hadfield says that they were raised wrong, and Satanists,” Lucas pipes up. Will remembers that. She sat them down and explained the “horrors” their nation was going through right now. AIDs and all that jazz. Will remembers crying in the bathroom soon after.

“Yeah but Mrs. Hadfield is also a Grade-A bitch,” Max says, “I don’t see the big deal. Isn’t a gay relationship the same as a straight one?”

“It’s weird, though,” Mike says.

“I’m more confused on how Richie’s friends with the girl,” Dustin says, changing the subject and momentarily making Will feel better.

“Bev?” Will decides to speak, making his voice as stable as it could be. Definitely not enough if the look Jane is giving him is anything to go by.

“Yeah, her!” Dustin snaps his fingers with a smile. “She’s hot!”

“Mom thought Richie had a crush on her, kept bringing her up over dinner,” Mike mutters.

“Think I can ask her to the arcade?” Dustin asks. Max and Lucas look at each other, before letting out a loud laugh.

“She’s so out of your league!” Lucas says after a few seconds.

“Plus she’s too old for you,” Max adds. Dustin just flips them off.

“What about that short kid? Richie’s boyfriend?” Max asks, “He seems cool.”

“Eddie,” Lucas says, and Max makes an ‘oh’ with her mouth.

“Yeah but he’s also queer,” Mike says. Will purses his lips together.

“Doesn’t mean he can’t be cool.” Max shrugs.

“Who do think each key is?” Will asks, wanted the subject to change. His voice once again is unstable, but only Jane notices.

“Well we know Richie is the heart key, but the rest are wild cards,” Dustin says, grabbing a stick off the ground.

“The kid with the stutter is probably the leadership key,” Lucas says, “They all seemed to look at him like a leader.”

“Bill was his name,” Max says, “At least it’s not Billy.” Lucas nods silently next to her.

“Maybe Eddie is the logic key?” Dustin asks.

“Can’t you find out, El?” Max says, turning towards Jane.

“I could, but it might be hard now that they’re all together,” Jane said. Mike groaned.

“Why does it matter who’s who? They’re all here now!” Mike says.

“Yeah but won’t it be nice to know which key is which?” Max asks, narrowing her eyes at Mike.

“It doesn’t matter!” Mike yells, “It  _ doesn’t _ matter!”

“Of course it matters!” Max yelled back, “They can defeat Pennywise! You just don’t like them!”

“I don’t even know them!” Mike defends, throws his hands up. The rest of the Party just watched, unsure what to do.

“You don’t like Eddie!”

“Yeah but he’s gay!” Will flinches.

“How does that matter?”

“It just does!” Will clenched his fists, feeling the clammy texture of his palms.

“So are you homophobic?” That word being directed at his closest friend hurts more than Will expected.

“What! No!”

  
“Then why are you weird about them being gay?”

  
“Because it’s weird!” Will’s feet are cold despite the nice warm weather they’re in.

“What’s so different about them than you and El?”   
  


“Because I’m a boy and El’s a girl!” Now that he’s thinking about it, his hands are cold too.

“You’re homophobic!” That word again. Will despises that word.

“I’m not!” Will has a headache. He can’t tell if it’s because of the yelling or the blood pounding in his ears.

“God, Mike, just admit it.” The blood is loud. How could blood be  _ so loud _ .

“Admit what? That I think gay people are weird?” It’s not just blood now. It’s his heart and his lungs and it’s too much too much  _ too much _ .

  
“That you’re homophobic, asshole!” It hurts, his eyes sting and his heart is pounding and  _ it hurts _ .

“Are you queer, Max?” It hurts it hurts it hurts.

“What?” His eyes are pinched closed and it hurts so  _ fucking much _ .

“I mean you’re defending them so much, are you queer like them?” Make it stop.

“Oh fuck you!” Make it stop.

“So you are!” Make it stop make it stop_ make it stop!_

“Shut up!” A scream interrupts. It takes all the eyes of his friends on him for Will to realize he was the one who screamed. His cold hands are basically drenched in sweat.

“Will?” Mike asks, and Will can’t look at him, my god he can’t. His stomach is sick and his hands are drenched and his head is pounding and Mike is looking at him and Mike thinks gays are  _ weird _ and  _ gross _ and Will needs to leave before he breaks down.

“Will?” Mike says again, and Will runs.

Will runs and doesn’t look back. He needs to leave. He can briefly hear yells after him over the pounding in his ears. He runs and runs until his cold legs give up.

Will curls into a ball, leaning against a tree.

He doesn’t know how long he was there for when the sound of crunching leaves near him break through the rushing blood and Will looks up, half-expecting Mike and the other half expecting Pennywise. Will gets neither, as his eyes lock with the concerned and sharp eyes of Jane.

“Will…” Jane starts, taking a good look at him. He’s sure he looks fantastic, with tears in his eyes and sweaty skin and a pale face.

“What?” Will asks, then cringes at the sound of his own voice. It’s shaky, unstable. Jane’s face only scrunches up in concern.

“I’m here to get you…” Jane sits next to him, and Will looks over at her. “But we can stay here for a while.” Will nods, turning his stare to the ground in front of him. They sit in relative silence, and Will’s ears finally slow the pounding, and his head hurts less. Jane looks at him for a second, before opening her mouth.

“Are you like Richie and Eddie?” Jane asks, and Will can feel his blood grown cold.

“What do you mean?” Will says, the sentence laced in fear. He can tell, and he knows that Jane can tell.

“I mean…” Jane looks around, before looking back at him,. “Are you gay?” Will flinches, hugging his legs to his chest tighter. He doesn’t dare open his mouth, afraid of whatever came out. He can feel tremors running through his body. Tears were pricking his eyes, and the blood is rushing back into his ears.

“Will?” Jane asked, and Will broke. Tears that only pricked his eyes now flooded his face, Will shaking with every sob that escaped his chapped lips, letting out loud, painful sobs. The grip on his knees hurt, but Will can’t find it in himself to care. A hesitant hand places itself on his back, and starts rubbing soothing circles. He can faintly hear calm words fighting their way through the loud beat in his ear.

After what seems like hours, Will is reduced to sniffles and hiccups. Jane is leaned against him in an awkward half-hug.

“I’m sorry…” Jane murmurs, and Will leans his head against his knees. Slowly he nods.

“What does that mean?” Jane asks, and Will sits up, looking at his hands.

“I’m…” Will starts, voice wet and croaky, “I’m gay.” Jane looks at him, then out at the woods, and then nods.

“I see…” Was what she finally said, and Will’s eyes widen. He grabs her hand, looking her in the eyes with his own frantic ones.

“Don’t tell Mike!” Will says. He couldn’t have Mike find out. He can’t see the look of disgust that Mike would sport if he found out that Will was a weird queer like his cousin. Jane looked at his hand, then to his eyes, and tightened her grip on him. Will looks at their hands in confusion before Jane spoke.

“I think Mike is wrong...” Will looks up at her. “I don’t think you’re weird.”

“You don’t?” Jane nodded.

“I know what it’s like to be weird,” Jane said, “And I don’t think this is weird.”

Will could feel relief expand in his chest, like the feeling of taking a breath of air after being submerged in water. The corners of his lips tugged into a small smile that Jane mirrored.

“What about Richie and Eddie?” Will asks, drunk on the feeling of someone not thinking he was weird. “Do you think they’re weird?”

“I don’t know them well…” Jane starts, “But Richie called Hop ‘Cop Hop’ so...” They look at each other before bursting out into giggles. 

“El,” Will said, causing Jane to look up, “Thank you.” She smiled.

“Anytime,” Jane says, before standing, “Let’s get to the house.”

“What about the others?” Will asks despite himself, and Jane shrugs.

“Who gives a shit, Mike was being an ass anyway.” Will can feel his jaw drop.

“You’ve been hanging around Max too much.” Jane giggles, and offers him a hand.

Will looks at the hand, smiles, and grabs it.

2

“This is where they found Tommy and Carol, right?” Steve asks, looking around the edges of the quarry, his infamous bat swung over his shoulder. Nancy looked around, gun secure in her hand. Jonathan was behind her, axe in his hand.

“I believe so,” Jonathan answers. Nancy looks at the water. It was an ugly brownish-green color, refusing to show the contents within. Steve threw a rock, disrupting the eerie calmness with a splash.

“What was that for?” Nancy asked, having been startled by the sudden droplets of water flying at her face. Steve just shrugged.

“Stress relief.” Nancy nodded, before turning towards Jonathan, who was looking around the edges of the woods.

“I used to like this place,” Nancy says, “Now it just gives me the creeps.”

“I feel you,” Steve says, crouching near the water. “I used to come here all the time.”

“Maybe the fact there’s a killer clown around is the difference?” Jonathan jokes, and Nancy smiles despite herself.

“That’ll do it alright,” Steve jokes back, turning towards Jonathan.

“Ever wonder what Pennywise would show you?” Nancy asks, gaining the attention of the two.

“What do you mean?” Jonathan asks, eyebrows furrowed.

“I mean,” Nancy starts, crossing her arms, “If he becomes your greatest fear, what do you think he’ll show up as for us?” The two looked at each other, and Steve ran a hand through his hair.

“Something stupid,” Steve said, “Like maybe giant cockroach or something equally nasty.”

“I…” Jonathan started, “I don’t know.”

“I was just wondering,” Nancy says. They sit in silence, before Steve wanders back over to the water. He crouches near the shore, looking into the water.

“Think the fucker is in here?” Jonathan moves to his side, staring into the water.

“Maybe,” Jonathan replies, “Maybe not.” Steve hums, before picking up another rock and chucking it into the ugly water. It hit the water with a big splash, and Jonathan turned towards Steve.

“What was that one for?” Steve shrugged, before picking up another rock and repeating the process, bat forgotten by his foot. After a few rocks, Jonathan picked one up, joining Steve in the one-sided war between them and the quarry. Nancy just watched, a slight smile on her face. Suddenly, there was a rock being held up to her face, with Steve giving her a look.

“It’s a good stress relief,” Steve said, waving the rock in front of her face. Nancy hesitated, looking between the rock to Steve to Jonathan then back to the rock. Slowly, she grabs the rock from Steve’s grasp, and walks closer to the water.

“Fuck you!” Nancy yells, startling both her and the other two, before throwing the rock as hard as she could. She watches the whole trip, from air to water, and grabs more rocks.

“Damn, Nance…” Steve laughs, running a hand through his hair. Jonathan laughs as well, and Nancy can’t help but join them. Calming down a bit, Nancy grabs a rock from her small pile and throws it. The splash it makes it addicting, and Nancy wants to hear more. She throws another, loving the splash and how different it is from the last one. Nancy throws one more, watching it like a hawk as it soars through the sky and nears the surface of the shitty water.

However, the rock never makes a splash, nor does it even hit the water surface. Instead, it lands in a gloved hand, and Nancy jumps.

“Holy shit!” Steve yells, and the bat is back in his hands, ready for a target. Jonathan swears in the background. Nancy can only watch as the hand pulls the rock under the red water.

Wait, red?

Nancy looks at the water, and realizes it’s not water anymore. It’s blood. The whole quarry is full of blood and almost gags when the sickeningly sweet and metallic smell hits her nose.

“What the hell…” Jonathan asks, standing next to Nancy. The three of them just stare at the quarry of blood. Then there’s movement, and Nancy squints, leaning in a bit closer. Emerging from the pool of red, weird black tentacles make their way on shore. The three back away, watching the tentacles with fear. Then, the tentacles stop, about a foot away from the blood. The three stand there, staring at the tentacle.

“Are they snakes?” Jonathan asks, and Steve scoffs.

“What snakes look like that?”

  
“I’m just asking!” Jonathan says. Steve huffs, before walking closer. Nancy moves her stare onto him.

“What are you doing!” She whisper-shouts, and Steve holds his bat up, ready to swing.

“I’m checking these out,” Steve responds, standing right in front of one of the tentacles. Slowly, he poked one with the bat. The tentacle didn’t move, and Steve poked harder. A few pokes, Steve turned towards them, and shrugged.

“They seem harmless,” Steve says, and Nancy sighs.

“Just get over here,” She says, and Steve nods, making his way over. That lasts for about a second before Steve is face first in the gravel of the quarry.

“You okay, Steve?” Jonathan asks, and Steve grumbles, lifting his face up. There’s a few small cuts from the rocks, but otherwise he looks fine.

“Peachy,” Steve mutters, before attempting to stand. Attempt being the keyword. Nancy watches as Steve falls back, and his eyes widen. “Shit.”

  
“What?” Nancy asks, and Steve looks at her as he’s tugged back again. 

“Nancy!” Jonathan yells, and Nancy looks to where he is pointing. Jonathan is in fact pointing at Steve’s leg, and more importantly the black tentacle that was seemingly still which was now wrapped snug around Steve’s calf. 

“Shit!” Steve yells as he turns, now sitting, and attempts to pull his leg free. The attempts are in vain as the tentacle just gives and effortless tug, and Steve is scrambling. Nancy swears, and grabs the pistol. She sees Jonathan race towards him, axe raised to bring down, before a tentacle blocks his path.

“Get off!” Steve yells, reaching for the bat, only for another tentacle to grab it, throwing it into the bloody quarry.

“Son of a bitch!” Steve swears, and he’s only a half a foot away from the blood. Jonathan struggles with the tentacle, which was trying to rip the axe away from him. Nancy fumbles with the pistol, and shoots the tentacle wrapped around the handle of the axe. A weird sound is heard, and she shoots it three more times before the tentacle retreats. Jonathan sighs, before a yelp from Steve breaks the small peace.

“A little help here!” Steve yells, and Nancy swears. He’s nearly waist deep in the blood. 

“You grab him, I’ll get the tentacle!” Nancy says, and Jonathan nods, giving her the axe, before running towards Steve’s upper half. Nancy rushes into the water, feeling the warmth soak her jeans. She kicks blindly, attempting to find Steve’s leg and by default, the tentacle. It takes a few kicks but she finally hits something solid.

“Was that you leg?” Nancy asks, and Steve shakes his head. He’s nearly chest deep, and Jonathan was tugging desperately.

“Okay, watch out!” Was all the warning she gave before she shot the solid object. After no reaction from Steve, she shot again, and again, and again. Then a tentacle came up, a few gunshots in it. It lunged at Nancy, who screamed, dropping the gun. A small gasp left her lips as the tentacles wrapped itself around her neck, lifting her from the ground. It tightened, and Nancy’s hands flew to the tentacle, trying in vain to pull it away from her neck. Nancy could hear a few shouts below her, and she struggles harder, kicking her legs in an attempt to wiggle out. The tentacle only tightened its hold, and Nancy could swear she could hear a sick laugh from below the blood. The world was becoming spotty and blood was blocking out any other sounds from reaching her ears.

Before the world completely black, Nancy was dropped into the blood. She gasped for oxygen with a newfound greed, not caring about the blood that was soaking her clothes. There was a loud screech, and Nancy could feel herself being pulled on to shore.

“Nance!” Steve yelled, and Nancy looked at him, her hands on her sore neck. “You okay?” She glares and he flinches. “Right, sorry.” Nancy nodded, and winced. God, her throat hurt. She looked forward, where the tentacle once was. Only now it was just Jonathan, axe held high, and a stub where the tentacle once was. Slowly the tentacle retreated, as the other two did as well. Jonathan gave a few deep breaths before racing towards Nancy.

“Nancy! Are you okay?” Jonathan asks, and Nancy glares.

“Just great…” Nancy croaks, her voice a whisper, then she flinches. Talking, bad.

“You sound like shit,” Steve says, and Nancy snorts, then winces.

“You look like shit,” Jonathan said to Steve, and Nancy gets a good look at him. He’s stained chest-high in blood, with small scratches on his face. His hands are cut open from the rocks, with a few scrapes on his arms. Steve looks down at himself, frowning.

“I liked this jacket…” Steve groaned, and Jonathan laughs. His pants were soaked to the knee with blood, and a few splashed on decorating everywhere else. Nancy could only imagine what she looked like, with a bruised neck and soaked in blood. Speaking of blood, Nancy looked out at the quarry. She smacked Jonathan’s arm and pointed at the water. He turned, and his eyes widened.

“Hey,” Jonathan said, “It’s not blood anymore.”

“I honestly don’t give a fuck,” Steve says, pulling out his now red keys,“Let’s just get the fuck out of here.” 

“What about blood on your car?” Jonathan asked, and Steve scoffed.

“I rather get the fuck out of here,” Steve said, walking towards his car, “That’s a problem for future me.” Jonathan shrugs, before helping Nancy up.

“I’m never coming back to this quarry ever again.” Steve said as he slid into the car, and Nancy couldn’t help but agree.

This quarry was fucking creepy anyway.

3

“Hey…” He turned over, shuffling in his bed.

“Hey…” He turned again, restless.

“Bowers!” Henry jumped awake, sweat running down his face. He knew that voice.

“Yes, Henry…” The voice said, and Henry smiled. “It’s time Henry, it’s time to kill them all.” Henry just started laughing.

“Shut it!” Henry closed his mouth. “Things will be different this time.”

“This time, you’ll have help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mike stans,, im sorry,,
> 
> look, im a mike stan (lowkey i love him) but hes an asshole and this is the eighties, so what do you expect? besides, that part was fun to write because i got emotional but i love drama and writing fear so B) (lowkey almost started crying)
> 
> but yeah will is gay because oh well :) and maybe another relationship is blooming? who's the helper? so many questions, oh me oh my
> 
> but yeah please comment i love yalls comments and thanks for reading!!


	9. Spidey-Sense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will talks to Richie and Eddie and a few things are discussed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man its been a while. im sorry about that, my life has been busy and ive been trying to find out what i want to do with this story (while listening to the new twice album that was blessed to us by God, amen) 
> 
> now for a few things!
> 
> im sure you guys have noticed, but i made this fic into a series! i know after i finish this fic, i won't be able to just stop with this world ive created. so ill be writing one shots of missing scenes and fics taking place before or after its strange. if you guys want to suggest anything, just let me know, because i want to see what yall want to see.
> 
> also, i have a few plot bunnies, and one is being worked through right now, so be on the watch for that ;)
> 
> and with that, on with the chapter! i hope yall enjoy!!

1

The Losers were the first group to head back to the Byers, but somehow not the first ones there. They walked in only to see Jane and Will laugh over something on the TV with plates of Eggos in their hands.

“Well, well, well,” Richie started, causing the two to look up from the TV, “What do we have here?”

“Was the woods a bust?” Bev asks, stepping in next to Richie.

“Don’t know,” Jane answers over a bite of Eggo and Richie can basically hear Stan flinch.

“What do you mean?” Eddie asks.

“We, uh,” Will says, ears read as he looked at his plate, “We left…”

“You l-left?” Jane nods. “W-Why?”

“Mike was being an ass,” Jane says, and Richie lets out a bark of laughter.

“Mike’s your cousin, right?” Ben asks Richie, who nods.

“How was Mikey-Wikey being an ass this time?”

“He was being…” Jane furrowed her eyebrows, “Homophobic? Is that the word Max used?” Will nodded, and Richie paused, looking down at Eddie who sucked in a deep breath.

“Was he?” Richie had to know. Jane nodded. Will looked between Richie and Eddie, before looking down at his plate again.

“I couldn’t stand listening to that, so we just left…” Will mutters, and Richie could see himself. He saw himself small and scared, hurt when Bowers yelled at him, crying on a bench, feeling totally alone. Well, until Paul Bunyan came and scared his ass. Richie looked at Eddie, who Richie knew was thinking the same (well minus the Paul Bunyan, their soulmate connection could only stretch so far), and sighed.

“Well,” Richie says, clapping his hands, “His loss!” He threw his arm around Eddie’s shoulder. “Me and Eds just happen to be the best fucking people you’ll ever meet!”

“Jury’s still out on you, dickwad” Eddie says, shoving Richie’s arm off him, “And don’t call me Eds, asshole!”

“Aww, Eds,” Richie cooed, poking Eddie on the cheek, “You love me!”

  
“Biggest fucking mistake of my life,” Eddie said with no real bite, and Richie smiled, pinching Eddie’s cheek.

“Cute, cute, _ cute! _” Eddie pulled away from Richie’s hand, cheeks pink as he pouted. Eddie was about to say something before Bev got between the both of them, an exasperated smile on her face.

“Stop scaring the kids, you two,” Bev said, pointing at a confused Jane and a laughing Will.

“They’re having a grand ol’ time, Bev!” Richie exclaims, and Bev just shakes her head, moving back over to Ben. Richie leans into Eddie, mouth near his ear.

“You think…”

“Yeah. Definitely.” Eddie whispers back, and Richie sighs.

“He reminds me of myself, years ago.”

“Rich…” Eddie turns to him, looking him in the eyes. “What about your cousin? What do we do?” Richie blinks, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Nothing.” Eddie furrows his eyebrows.

“Nothing? What do you mean nothing?”

“I mean nothing. We do nothing! It only gives him more fuel if we go against him,” Richie whisper-shouted, and Eddie sighs.

“Fine, but if he says anything about you I’m not responsible on where his body ends up!” Eddie said, crossing his arms. Richie only smiled.

“Sure you’re not, Eds,” Richie said, and Eddie smacked his shoulder.

“What are you lovebirds whispering about?” Hanlon asked with a teasing grin on his face.

“About how Mrs. K still wants a piece of this nice Tozier ass, so we’re discussing days for Eds and days for Mrs. K,” Richie responds easily, before yelping at Eddie’s elbow in his ribs.

“Don’t call me Eds! And don’t talk about my mom like that!” Richie was about to say something but the sound of a door slamming open interrupted the banter.

“Richie, Eddie,” Jane’s voice spoke over the laughs, and the two turned towards her, “Me and Will have to speak to you.” She cast a look at the rest of the losers. “Privately.” They looked at each other, before nodding.

“Alright, Seven Eleven, where to,” Richie said, and Will timidly stepped forward.

“My room.” So they walked in, Eddie closing the door behind him. Richie sat on the bed, giving the room a quick glance. The walls were covered with posters and drawings of characters that Richie had never seen. Jane and Will stood near the door, the former angled towards the latter.

“What’s up, guys,” Eddie asks, sitting next to Richie on the bed. Jane looked at Will, who refused to look up from his shoes. She nudged him, and Will cast a look at her before looking at the two on the bed.

“I, uh, have something to ask you guys…” Will mumbled, looking back his shoes.

“What is it,” Richie asks, leaning forward on his elbows. Eddie seemed similarly interested. Will looked at Jane before back at them.

“How did you tell your friends that you were gay…” Will’s voice got smaller as the sentence went on, but Richie heard the full thing, and if Eddie’s face is anything to go by, he did as well. 

“Well,” Richie started, “I’m not going to lie, I didn’t want to.” Will looked confused, and Richie pressed on. “I didn’t want to believe I was gay. I...I was scared. However, over time, you have to realize if they won’t accept you for you, then they aren’t worth your time.” Eddie nodded, grabbing Richie’s hand.

“It was drilled into my head that being gay was a disease.” Eddie looked at Richie before facing Will. “But it’s not, people are just stupid and hateful.” Eddie’s voice was getting bitter, and Richie knew Eddie was talking about his mom. He tightened his hold on Eddie’s hand, rubbing circles with his thumb. “Just like Richie said, if they won’t accept you, fuck ‘em!” Will let out a wet laugh, and Richie realized he was crying. He stood, giving Will a hug. Another set of arms wrapped around the both of them, and Richie saw the familiar brown hair of Eddie.

“We got you, bud,” Richie muttered, and Will let out a sob.

“We stick together,” Eddie said, tightening his hold on Will. They stayed in silence for a while, holding Will tight in their arms, the sounds of Will’s sobs the only source of sound.

“Thank you…” Will sniffed after a few minutes, and Eddie shook his head.

“No need to thank us.”

  
“Not like you can get rid of us now, bud,” Richie said, pulling away, “We’re your gay dads now.” Will snorted and Eddie smacked Richie, a smile on his face.

“Rich!”

“What! I’m just saying!”

“Way to ruin a moment, Dick.”

“Ruin? I made this moment better!”

“I’m glad to have gay dads now,” Will spoke up with a smile, and Richie couldn’t help the smile that overtook his face.

“I’m not emotionally ready to be a dad,” Eddie muttered, failing to hide his smile. The sound of someone clearing their throat broke the moment, and they looked at a smiling Jane (who Richie honestly forgot was there).

“Someone just got back, we should go out there,” Jane said, and Will nodded, removing himself from the sandwich. They walked out of the room, leaving Richie and Eddie alone.

“That kid is too good for this fucked up world,” Richie muttered, and Eddie nodded.

“Let’s get out there, meet and greet and all that shit,” Eddie said, grabbing Richie’s hand and pulling him out of the door. They were immediately met with the voice of Mike.

“You okay, Will?” Mike asked, and Richie could see the genuine concern on his face. The only time Richie had seen Mike like this was with Jane when he walked into their make-out session. The look only lasted a second before Mike twisted into disgust when he saw Richie. Back to normal.

“What were you guys doing in there?” Mike asked, crossing his arms. His little group stood behind him, though Max was leaning away from him.

“Discussing politics,” Richie says, “I’m thinking of running for president next election.”

“Who would want you as a president?” Mike asks, face scrunched up.

“I can think of plenty of people!” Richie exclaims, wrapping his arm around Eddie, “Eds for example.”

“I’d rather die,” Eddie muttered, pushing himself away from under Richie’s arm, “And you stink, fucker. When was the last time you took a shower?”

“Last time I saw Mrs. K,” Richie said, a teasing grin taking over his face, “We got a bit messy the other day. There was stuff all over the walls, and let me tell you, it was not soap.” Richie winked, and Eddie’s face went red.

“Beep fucking beep, asshole!” Eddie yelled. Richie laughed, sneaking a glance at Mike, who was watching, his face still scrunched up. Good, Richie thought. He wanted all the attention off Will.

“Anyway, Mikey,” Richie said, turning back to Mike, “Why are you guys back?” 

“We gave up searching,” Max answered, moving to the kitchen.

“Once Will and El left, we didn’t see the point,” Dustin says, looking at Bev, who was leaning against the wall, looking at the photos around the room. Richie only shook his head. Kid was going to be disappointed.

“Think the others found anything?” Lucas asked, and Mike shrugged.

“Who knows?”

“Maybe we annoyed it enough,” Max says, returning with two glasses of ice water. She hands one to Lucas as she stands next to him.

“We didn’t find anything either,” Bev says, pushing away from the wall, “Which is weird. It’s like obsessed with us or something.”

“More like It’s happy we’re here,” Eddie starts, leaning against Richie, “Which is concerning.”

  
“Why is It happy,” Richie finishes, wrapping an arm around Eddie, “We beat the shit out of It last time.”

“M-Maybe It has a fuh-few tricks uh-up It’s sl-sleeve?” Bill weakly suggests.

“I don’t want to know any of those tricks, please and thank you,” Richie mutters.

“It was probably watching us from afar,” Stan says, crossing his arms, “Trying to catch us off guard.”

“No,” Bev said, “It wasn’t even around us.”

“How do you know?” Stan said, “Like you said, It’s obsessed with us!”  


“I don’t know,” Bev groans, running a hand through her hair, “I just didn’t feel It around us!”

“Speaking of that,” Richie interrupted, “What was that earlier?”

“What was what?” Bev asks, arms crossed.

“When Bozo first appeared, you looked around wildly for a few seconds before It made It’s dramatic entrance.”

“I…” Bev sighed. “I felt something. Like a tug at the base of my neck. It was telling me It was near.”

“Like Spider-Man!” Dustin said, smiling.

“Yeah!” Bev agreed, and Richie smothered a laugh as Dustin blushed. “Just like his Spidey Sense!”

“What’s next, you being able to climb on walls?” Eddie snorted.

“But that means you have powers,” Stan says, “And that is not possible.”  


“But Ellie over here has powers,” Richie says, and all the Losers turn to Jane.

“You do?” Ben asks, and Jane nods, “Why are we just finding out about this?”

  
“Didn’t Richie tell you?” Lucas asks and the Losers shake their head.

“To be fair,” Richie pipes up, “It’s a very pressing time in my life.”

  
“But that’s so cool though!” Hanlon says, a smile on his face, “Powers?”

  
“You’re like Wonder Woman!” Richie says, “Along with Spider-Bev over here, I’m feeling pretty confident we won’t die _ as _fast.”

“Shush it, Dick,” Bev says. Richie sticks his tongue out at her which Bev reciprocates.

“So two people have powers?” Stan asks, bringing the topic back around.

“Apparently,” Eddie sighs.

“Why just B-Bev, though?” Bill asks, and Bev shrugs.

“Deadlights?”

  
“But why would the Deadlights give you powers?” Ben asks, and Bev shrugs again.

“Maybe we all have powers?” Hanlon suggests, causing everyone to look at him.

“What do you mean?” Ben asks, leaning towards Bev.

“I mean, we’re all the ‘Keys’, right?” The Losers nod. “Then maybe we all have powers.”

“But what Key would I be?” Bev asks, eyebrows furrowed down.

“Fight,” Max says, “It makes the most sense.”

“What about us?” Eddie says, moving his finger to all the Losers―sans Richie and Bev―before back to himself.

“Well,” Max says, taking a sip of water, “I think Stan is the Logic Key, but I have no idea for the rest of you.”

“Oh yeah,” Richie snorts, “Stanley the Manly is definitely the Logic Key.” Stan sends Richie a glare (which translates to “Fuck you” in Stan).

“Bill’s probably the leadership key,” Mike says, leaning back against the couch.

“Another big duh!” Richie says, and can basically hear Bill say ‘Beep beep’ with the glare directed towards him.

“Hey,” Hanlon says, looking out the window, “Someone’s back.” The kids crowd the window, and watch as Joyce and Hopper come out of the car, both looking mildly annoyed. Will opens the door, and Joyce walks in, smiling at him.

“Hey sweetie,” Joyce says, and Will smiles back.

“Hey mom, find anything?” Hopper walks past, shaking his head.

“Nothing, no sign of any psychotic clown.”

“N-No voices in t-tubs?” Bill asks, and Hopper shakes his head.

“Is Jonathan back?” Joyce asks, sitting on the couch.

“Not yet, no,” Will says, sitting between her and Jane.

“Maybe he’s having a threesome with Steve Rogers and Nancy Drew,” Richie suggests, and Eddie elbows him.

“Dude that's disgusting,” Mike says, crossing his arms.

“You’re just no fun, Mikey,” Richie says, blowing a raspberry.

“I’m not disgusting like you,” Mike responds, glaring at Richie.

“Uh, I can’t be disgusting if I date a living hand sanitizer dispenser.” Eddie flips him off. “Check fucking mate, Wheeler.”

“That’s not how it works, dumbass!”

  
“It is now!”

“You’re so fucking annoying,” Mike grumbles, leaning back against the couch. Richie only smirks.

“It’s what I do best.” Mike opens his mouth to speak, but the slam of the front door breaks that plan. Everyone turns to the bloody looks of the three teens, and all they can do is gawk.

“Holy shit, what happened to you?!” Mike and Richie say at the same time, before glaring at each other. Richie turns away to look at the new looks. They, for lack of better words, look like shit. Each of them are covered in varying amounts of blood, Steve looks like he ate shit, and Nancy has suspicious bruises that go around her neck like a choker. Jonathan seems to have gotten the better end of the deal. Joyce is immediately up, rushing over to the teens.

“What happened?” She asks, and Steve just walks past.

“I’m never going to that goddamn quarry ever again!” Steve yells, marching into the bathroom. Jonathan just smiles weakly at his mom.

“The quarry turned to blood and he almost got dragged in.” Joyce makes an ‘oh’ with her face, and Mike’s face scrunches up (Richie notices that it does that a lot. Is it genetic? A condition? Who knows.)

“How does a whole quarry turn to blood?” Mike asks and Nancy sends him a look.

“We don’t know,” Nancy whispers, voice raspy.

“Whoa, Nance, you okay?” Richie asks, and the look she sends asks if she looks okay.

“A fucking tentacle almost killed her,” Steve’s voice comes from the bathroom, “So I don’t think she’s okay.”

“Tentacle?” Hopper asks, and Jonathan sighs, diving into an explanation on how the quarry turned to blood and almost killed them. Thrown rocks, gloves hands, and tentacles later, they were filled in.

“Well shit,” Hopper muttered, rubbing his beard. Bev looked pale, leaning towards Ben.

“Were,” Will starts, somehow paler than Bev, “Were they the same tentacles as the Upside Down?” At those words, everyones—sans a confused Losers Club—eyes widened.

“But It knows our fears,” Steve says, stepping out of the bathroom, face a bit cleaner, “So maybe we’re just scared of the Upside Down?”

“But you never seen the tentacles,” Joyce said, before narrowing her eyes at them, “Have you?” They shook their heads.

“So does that mean the Upside Down is somehow involved?” Dustin asks, and Nancy shrugs.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Richie says, bringing the attention to him, “But what the fuck is the Upside Down?” The room went silent, before Hopper sighed.

“What the hell,” Hopper muttered, “Sit down.” The losers just look at him. “Sit _ down. _” They scrambled, sitting down wherever they could. Hopper sighed, running a hand down his beard.

“It started in 1983…”

2

He made it. He’s here.

Hawkins, Indiana.

He’s here to finish his job.

To kill them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> losers?? with powers?? can i hear a wahoo
> 
> any guesses? i honestly like hearing what yall got
> 
> who do yall think henrys new friend is?? hint, theyre like the gucci version of henry
> 
> anyway, please suggest any scenes yall like to see!! it will certainly put me more in a mood to write and will be fun to do!!
> 
> the next update may take longer, im really trying to figure out where to go with this fic. so sorry in advance. but thanks for sticking around!! and remember, comments are my cocaine :)


	10. please read this!!

Hello!!

i have given thought to this story, and i have found that i simply do not like where it was heading.

because i have no idea where it was heading

the last few chapters where weak to me, and i want to go over them and rewrite them, maybe plot out the story better, and find the ending that will make me happy

so, i am ending this story right here and will be rewriting (plus writing new chapters) the whole story, then post it here under the same name. it will take time, due to my stupidly obsessive personality, but i plan to post it sometime next year (hopefully)

i will keep this story up until i finish the new one, and i want to say sorry for everyone. 

love you guys, and thanks for sticking around!

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked it, please leave kudos or comments!! or both!!
> 
> i live for validation


End file.
